Scarlet
by Infinite Skye
Summary: In which losing a Shogi tournament leads to being dubbed a hypocrite, stalker, and falling hopelessly in love with an extraterrestrial god of perfection. Nevertheless, love remains one-sided despite an awkward girl's embarrassing attempts. They were worlds apart after all, proven when everything comes apart. It is a path of heartbreak indeed.AkashixOC. (Warning: Psychological)
1. 春: Checkmate Beginning

**There comes a time one wants to do the daring and illogical...which is why I ended up writing this OC fic despite writing only GOM-centric ones before (that I also REALLY need to update) **

**But, I hope you enjoy!**

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**_Dedicated to an awesome friend: Hiyomi (hopefully you'll like this story!)_  
**

**_Special Thanks to noelswonderland for all the support!_**

**_Beta-ed by: Iracchi (Beast Without a Name) who provided plenty of suggestions for me. Thank you for the great job!_**

Tags: Romance, Severe awkwardness, Psychological, Mystery, Suspense, Comedy,

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_A story of the tale of **two**,_

_their meetings, their friendship, and eventual interest in the other._

_Yet, because their meeting has been dictated by the** seasons**,_

_ **happiness** won't be easily found._

_In fact, no one guaranteed happiness for the two,_

_when one is **perfect**,_

_and the other is a **hypocrite**._

_But nothing is set in stone, not yet anyways,_

_so welcome, to **Scarlet.**_

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_"Spring. It's called the time of new beginnings but, the spring I met you, _

_all I could recall...was a resounding 'checkmate'."_

_Spring-Track A_

_Start._

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**春: Checkmate Beginning**

"Checkmate." For the umpteenth time, those words of victory slipped through Akashi Seijuro's lips as his scarlet red bangs brushed across his expressionless face, tilting upwards when he took one last glance at his opponent.

His opponent was a girl, silk black hair protruding long past her shoulders, framing a pale white face with soft golden eyes. Now however, those golden irises reflected despondency, completely deprived of life as he watched her stare lividly at the Shogi board between the two.

She had lost…by a long mile.

Yet he did not even bat an eye. "Thank you for the match," Akashi bowed curtly, eyes devoid of any sense of sincerity as he got up from kneeling position, removing himself from match.

He knew that look all too well. It was the same look in the eyes of all the others, the challengers, growing listless after losing to him-the "genius."

Well, at the very least, that's what they had dubbed him but Akashi never did consider himself as one. The only thing he did consider was that he would always win, not as a boast but as a fact, as another truth in the world. Winning was as natural as breathing.

Therefore, he didn't feel a thing for the girl. If he felt something, it would be contemplating the usage of the prize: a certificate and 10 coupons to a fancy French patisserie. Such a prize was expected for a small-scale tournament however, that never hindered Akashi's participation, not when he was told there would be some unexpected talents. However, it seemed that the information was off or at the very least, misguided. It was a crushing victory for him.

Akashi paused...If he recalled, Murasakibara once told him about wanting to eat a cake from a fancy French patisserie…hmm.

Without another word, he exited the room, completely forgetting both the name and face of his opponent.

[-]

"Mhmm Aka-chin, thanks for the sweets," Murasakibara Atsushi exclaimed with a contented smile dancing on his squirrel-stuffed mouth while he carried a box filled to the brim with a variety of cake slices.

His captain, Akashi Seijuro along with Midorima stood beside him as the trio strode down the empty courtyard towards the other side of the school.

"I'm glad you like it, but I hope you won't overdo it. Atsushi, refrain from eating so much as to gain a cavity understood?" The red-haired captain commanded as the purple giant, nearly a whole feet taller than him nodded valiantly.

"Are you sure you want to spoil him like that, Akashi?" Midorima asked, tone completely disapproving of his actions.

Murasakibara slightly pouted. "Aka-chin said it was okay~"

"Oi,at least show some reserve!" the verdant youth reprimanded before the two began a peculiar banter where Midorima one-sidely criticized him and Murasakibara only responded with pouting, vague replies.

Knowing that it was simply a waste of time to correct their naturally "eccentric" personalities, Akashi stayed silent and instead decided to address an opened invitation letter in his hand.

_To Akashi Seijuro-sama,_

_Your fast-paced development in the Shogi world has greatly piqued our interest and we would greatly appreciate it if you would attend a joint interview with the up and coming prodigious youth at our Shogi studio._

_Sincerely, JSA (Japanese Shogi Association)_

Although it was a given he would've won the Shogi tournaments he attended, receiving an interview letter from a Shogi magazine would lead to quite a hassle. Logically, there was no reason he would reject and as such, he promptly tucked it back into his pocket.

"Midorima-kun!"

The pounding of footsteps on pavement echoed down the empty courtyard, followed by the soft tone of a female's voice suddenly cutting through the low bantering of the males.

The three abruptly stopped, Midorima turning back at the familiarity of the voice while the rest slightly tilted their heads back in intrigue.

Across from the yard, they spotted a girl in from their school with long black hair speedily running over. "Akakibana?" Midorima squinted as the girl came closer, rushing over to the shooting guard with a look of urgency in her golden eyes.

"A-ah! Midorima-kun, I'm glad I caught you!" Akakibana exclaimed once she arrived, slightly panting from the dashing before she took time to pleat her skirt, stand up straight, and make herself presentable. "The student council president suddenly changed the date for the school festival's class representative meeting. It's on the 20th now," she informed professionally, craning her neck up at the ridiculously tall male.

Midorima nodded in a business-like manner. "I see. Thank you for informing me Akakibana. I'll make sure to keep note of that," He intoned, voice surprisingly even for someone who was childishly bickering away only a few moments ago.

A hint of disapproval flashed across Akashi's face. "Shintaro, didn't we agree that we had an _important _club meeting on the 20th?" Akashi suddenly questioned, scarlet eyes flashing dangerously at his vice-captain who abruptly flinched.

"H-hmph of course I knew that! In face I was planning on asking her to change the date right now!" Midorima retorted, doing his best to keep his voice unfazed before he whipped back towards the girl.

"Akak—"

He froze.

Fear strewn all over the face of his classmate. The girl had her jaw dropped aghast, her face paling further as her golden irises reflected nothing but bewilderment.

He was at a loss for words. Even the crazies he had to hang around wouldn't do that...or well, at least for now. Momoi was pretty close at times whenever she was around Kuroko though.

Slowly Midorima turned to the direction her eyes seemed to be fixated upon…and came face to face with a rather bemused Akashi.

He inwardly groaned. Oh great, what did his captain do _now_?

"…Yes?" He heard his captain ask with intrigue. It was not every day someone would gape in terror at the sight of the red-head's face…at least, that was what Midorima hoped.

Yet instead of replying, the girl blinked as if snapping back from a daze before a smile broke off her lips. "O-oh I'm sorry! I was just spacing out a bit. You resembled someone I knew," Akakibana apologized, bowing her head politely.

Akashi raised a brow; he doubted that was true.

"W-well Midorima-kun, don't worry. A-as the second class rep, I'll go and ask the president to change the date, how does the 23rd sound?" The girl asked, completely hacking off the conversation.

"Ah… yes, that sounds about right," Midorima confirmed, snapping back to his senses.

He didn't expect the delirious beam of hope, as if she just found salvation from hell, to bounce of her face immediately after. "Oh then that's great Midorima-kun! I-I'll go to them right now!" She exclaimed with a curt bow, feet already tilted away from them before instantly speed-walking off.

"What? Hey wait!" Midorima called, confused by the strange chain of events.

"Shintaro, who was that girl?" Akashi asked on a whim. From the look she gave him before she left, he knew something was up.

"She's my class' female class representative: Akakibana Inori, do you know her?" Midorima asked, pushing up his glasses.

"Ooh~ Akakibana? So it's like another Aka-chin then~ Aren't they related?" Murasakibara surprisingly speculated.

"No, I don't have any family members like her but…I do believe I've seen her somewhere before," Akashi mused. "Well anyways, let's keep moving, we still need to finish up some things in the club room," He reminded, pacing forward.

Midorima was confused. "So you're leaving it at that?" he asked. Why would his captain even ask if he had no intention of keeping it in mind?

"Shintaro, if I don't happen to recall her name, it simply means that at that time, there was no need for me to remember and I see no reason to start prying into her reaction now. If you have time to think about such things, you should have enough time to do double—no triple of your training regime," Akashi replied with a curt smirk.

Midorima flinched.

Well, that shut him up.

Besides, although she did happen to be his classmate, Midorima didn't know her well enough to care any further.

[=]

"Akashi-kun, are you okay these days?" The soft voice of Akashi's phantom player inquired as the red and blue duo roamed down the hallways.

"Of course Tetsuya, is something the matter?" Akashi replied, curious that Kuroko would ask.

Kuroko's expression stayed blank while he sipped on his apple cider. "Well Akashi-kun, I was wondering if something's happened recently since there's someone that has been constantly staring at you," Kuroko analyzed incisively and pointed to the windows where on the third level, there was a figure on the other side of the school, a girl with flowing ebony hair who instantly ducked behind the shadows upon notice.

Akashi smiled, impressed by Kuroko's growth. Ever since he started honing his misdirection technique, his already keen observation abilities were heightened beyond expectations. His now, ninja-like subordinate was correct however. Indeed, ever since that incident with Midorima, it seemed that he had somehow acquired his own stalker of some sort. Now, for the whole duration of the week, wherever he walked, he could always feel the gaze of someone staring at him from afar.

"Ah that, well since she hasn't done a thing yet, I can at least assume she means no harm," Akashi evaluated.

"I see, but I hope it doesn't escalate to a level like Kise-kun's," Kuroko voiced, reminding him of the recent addition to the basketball team who, on the first day of his promotion to first-string caused the gymnasium to be bombarded with cheering girls. Well, they were long gone now but Akashi doubted that her actions were fueled by admiration, not in this case anyways.

"Akashi Seijuro!" Suddenly the voices of a bunch of bespectacled nerds rang out in the air, causing Akashi to furrow his brows.

"Ah, it's the members of the Shogi club," Kuroko noted blankly.

Akashi sighed; it was obvious what they were going to demand.

"Akashi Seijuro! We challenge you to our Shogi tournament at the cultural festival! This time, we'll definitely defeat you!" The club president announced haughtily.

Akashi stayed impassive. "Oh? That's quite an interesting challenge despite the fact that I won all five of the Shogi tournaments hosted last year," He reminded, the group flinching at his ice-cold words, their past failures wavering their resolve.

"W-well, this year will be different!" Their leader exclaimed, puffing up his chest and whipping out a Shogi magazine. "This year, we have her in our school!" He exclaimed, revealing a color spread of a girl with black hair in a crimson leaf patterned kimono with streaks of gold. Beside the picture, there was a headline: "Interview with the up and coming prodigy—Akakibana Inori!"

A nearly non-existent hint of surprise settled on the two members of the basketball team.

"Yeah! With her participating, there's no way we'll lose! You'll definitely be joining our club this year!" The rest of the Shogi members chimed.

But much to their horror, that terrifying smile didn't falter, it widened instead.

"W-what?" The president demanded shakily.

"…Akashi-kun, did you do something to her at the recent Shogi tournament?" Kuroko mused, causing the members to leap back in shock.

"W-who are you?! W-when did you get here?!" One of the members demanded, they didn't notice him at all! Did Akashi Seijuro somehow manage to obtain a ninja as a subordinate?!

"He was always here but to answer your question Tetsuya, I don't quite recall meeting someone like her there," Akashi replied, turning to the bluenette and completely ignoring the members.

"But on the other hand, you never recall the faces of your opponents do you?" Kuroko noted, causing a slight chuckle to erupt from the red-head's lips, despite meeting Akashi only months ago, Kuroko understood him quite well.

"And you're just going to ignore us?!" The members disparaged.

Akashi narrowed his eyes. He promptly turned back to the Shogi club members, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.

"I'm quite sorry for that," He began, tone clearly _not _sorry. "But apparently this girl is to be your trump card?" He confirmed.

"Y-yes?" The president answered nervously. He didn't like where this was going.

And _there._

Akashi Seijuro suddenly _smirked._

Oh boy.

"Very well then, I shall accept," he began, that curt curve on his lips widening, "However, if I win, I expect a _DONATION_ of 1/3 of your club funds to the basketball club," he concluded with a full-grown smile that caused hell to freeze over.

The members sweatdropped, desperately clinging onto that small hope of them winning but even they weren't so sure anymore.

They promptly turned to dust.

"Shall we go Tetsuya?" Akashi willed with a satisfied smirk, striding away as the ever expressionless bluenette followed suit.

"Akashi-kun…that was your stalker just now wasn't it?" Kuroko inquired once they turned a corner.

"You're right. It is," Akashi answered although he seemed slightly distracted, as if contemplating something.

"Are you interested now?"

Akashi smiled. "Why would you say that Tetsuya?"

"Well Akashi-kun, you've been playing with that interview letter for quite a while now," Kuroko replied, pointing to his captain's slender fingers that were folding and creasing a pink slip of paper.

"That isn't quite correct as either way, I will be attending that interview. However, if she is as famous as those Shogi members claim, it is likely that she'll be there, perhaps giving me something to do." Akashi smirked, shutting the slip closed.

Although cornering a stalker wasn't something he usually cared to place his time in, if he was going to be stuck at that interview either way, in this case, he might as well.


	2. 春: Revisited Tryst

**Thank you for the reviews, favs, and follows! I'm glad that you like story, especially the characterizations of canon characters. I never considered the factor of romance (or friendship outside of their basketball circle) for the characters before so hopefully I'll be able to pull this off well.**

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******春**: Revisited Tryst

Tokyo was quite a hectic city to live in, especially with its abundance of "Japanese Lunch Time Rushes" yet strangely enough, although from time to time the passing of a distant truck could be heard through its flapped open windows, the lobby of the JSA was surprisingly quiet…too quiet.

Akakibana Inori couldn't help but feel a bit queasy at that. There were at least 5 members here other than her, all dubbed up-and-coming prodigies. Yet, as they silently ate their bentos, not a single of them spoke a word to each other.

The scene only made her remember how lonely of a sport Shogi was and simply added a second reason why she wanted to quit.

So what was the first? Well…she was looking at it.

Akashi Seijuro. With striking scarlet hair and matching orbs of red, that was what the interviewers had addressed the boy. Yet, if she knew she would have to meet him again, even if it was under her mother's instructions, she would've never attended the interview—ever.

In fact, just discovering that he attended the same school as her made her uneasy. What was this? Ever since that horrible day where she went to pass some information onto Midorima, she knew that despite everything, such as being obliterated by him in a recent tournament, he didn't have a single recollection of her. She actually preferred it to stay that way, to not get mixed up with him in any way possible yet not only did he have to also attend Teiko, he also had to attend the same interview?!

She didn't mind getting bested at Shogi, she knew it was bound to happen. Besides, the rest of the people in the room already bested her many times. However, losing to him was another story...a terrible story in so many ways.

Absentmindedly, she found herself staring at said boy, eyes settling on the scarlet whorl of hair at the back of his head.

Apparently her gaze was a tad too obvious. Instantly the boy glanced her way.

She flinched, reflexively ducking her head down, pretending to check her nails before turning red in embarrassment at such an act.

"You did it again."

She swallowed hard. From first encounter, she had already memorized that sharp and absolute tone of confidence as she warily turned, meeting his piercing scarlet eyes.

"What?" She blurted, doing her best to keep her expression calm.

"You did it again, darting your eyes whenever I look back," Akashi voiced, devoid of expression.

She immediately flushed. So he noticed?!

Yet, instead of becoming utterly flustered like usual, there was something strange about his wording and tone. The atmosphere around her felt cold and unnerving.

She tilted her eyes up, gold meeting ruby. "W-wait, what do you mean by again?" She asked, repeating his words.

The boy stayed impassive yet ever so slightly, Akakibana somehow felt like a cornered rat.

"Yes again, considering how you seem to be the one stalking me on school grounds."

If she could, she would've comically choked right there. "Huh?!" She gape-whispered, utilizing her utmost efforts to keep her voice level. Did he just call her a stalker?! Of all things, she somehow got labeled a stalker by him of all people?! Even if she really didn't want to speak to him, she couldn't let that slide! "I never stalk—ah." She froze, abruptly ending her retaliation. To her horror, she knew exactly what he was talking about.

Technically, she did stalk him. Going by what she read off from a dictionary, she did indeed happen to glance his way whenever she caught a whiff of that scarlet red but that wasn't as if she had any obsessive intentions! Never!

"It seems you do seem to have an idea," Akashi noted, eyes gazing at hers as if demanding an explanation.

She sweatdropped. Of course she wanted to explain that she was in fact not a stalker, but if she did, she would also have to admit that she actually was staring at him constantly from afar and really, in this situation, what was the difference?!

"U-um, I'll admit that I did happen to notice you more ever since that recent Shogi tournament in Asakusa b-but that was simply because I was surprised to see a fellow schoolmate there. Please refrain from using words like "stalking" to describe that," she replied, struggling to keep her tone firm.

Akashi Seijuro raised a brow. "…Shogi tournament?"

A brow twitched. She was ready to flip a table. Although she did say that she preferred it if he didn't, she couldn't help but feel irked by his blank expression. She did after all, lose in the FIRST ROUND of a tournament to some random stranger, which was probably the most shameful move she made in her whole career. Yet, the perpetrator that destroyed her everyday peace didn't have a single recollection of it at all?!

"Yes…" she confirmed, containing her boiling anger by keeping her voice nice and polite.

However, Akashi did not reply, instead she found him staring straight at her, scarlet eyes revealing a soul-sucking ferocity.

She blinked. "Um is there—"She stopped mid-way. He was looking at her in a manner she knew far too well. It wasn't the way someone would look at a person but a Shogi board, analyzing the game, or in this case, every single micro-movement that made up what she was.

Yet before she could even complain, those scarlet orbs suddenly froze.

The boy parted his lips.

"You…you're beyond the level of a hypocrite aren't you? You don't make any sense." Akashi suddenly concluded, laying out his verdict in an expressionless tone.

"What?" She gawked at him, her mask of calm instantly slipping off at the outrageous comment that boy had made. However, this time she wasn't ready to blow but rather...shocked. Although it was clearly strange for a boy who only spoke a few sentences to her to be insulting her, his words somehow made her feel…strange, as if it was a key that opened up a portion of her heart vastly unknown to her. It seemed to agree with the boy and that itself made it utterly unnerving.

Her body involuntarily shivered.

He simply stood up. "It's exactly as I've stated. However…it seems this wasn't enough of a discovery to be worth killing time for," he replied, trailing off at the end.

She looked at him in confusion. Killing time? Was that directed at her? Nevertheless, she did feel offended by his words. It didn't matter whether she interpreted that correctly or not but rather, the fact that some random stranger basically declared that he understood every little niche of secret within her.

She sucked in a breath, about to interject yet...she stopped short just as her lips parted open. A lump had formed in her throat in place of words. She realized she couldn't seem to find the strength to speak. The unease welded itself to her stomach, morphing into butterflies that flew in anarchy but...why?

Akashi instantly noticed her distress, narrowing his eyes in response. "It seems that we're done here," he concluded, utilizing the sharpness in his voice to force her to glance up.

"H-huh?" She blurted rather absentmindedly before she noticed his ruby gems scan her gold once more.

Ever so slightly, Akashi crinkled his eyes.

She wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

Yet suddenly, the boy glance past her, towards the other side of the room. "Oh, it seems we're being called over. Shall we go, A...Akakibana Inori?" Akashi prodded, eyes expressionlessly darting towards the waving male in a room off the corner, although he left without bothering to wait for her.

There was no need to.

Just as he preempted, Akakibana didn't even budge from her seat. She only sat there, eyes widening by the second. It was slight but…she definitely heard it. There was a pause when he said her name...as if he clearly had forgotten it!

A new emotion suddenly burst inside her, completely eradicating that unnerving twang within her as she stood up from her seat and headed towards the door. Although her face showed a gentle smile, in reality she was burning with rage.

It was official; he was definitely on her blacklist. Why she continued to stare at him for two weeks until this day was an utter mystery to her but now that the sensation finally settled due to rage, she'll simply confidently complete the interview and go home right away! Then, even if she dies, she'll make sure that she'll never see his face again!

Already waiting in a chair, Akashi caught sight of the girl's gentle smile as she strode in and greeted the interviewer. He raised his brow once he analyzed her movements.

For a moment he contemplated her simplicity; her intentions were written all over her face...and they were far from amiable. Yet as he glanced over at the interviewer, a smirk formed on his lips. "But…you are bound to fail," he whispered.


	3. 春: Borderline

**Thank you for following, faving, and reviewing this story! It greatly helps boost my self-esteem!**

**As for the reviews, I would like to answer a few questions or suggestions here:**

**Guest: **Yes you're right. In Shogi one would definitely say Oute instead of Checkmate. I wasn't actually sure whether or not I should've written it that way because I thought Checkmate would have more impact for summary readers (since it's in English).

Thank you for pointing that out, I suppose I should start adding in the technical terms!

**LuckyandStars: **Well I tend to want names to have a meaning so Akakibana basically meant "Passionate red flower" (Yes, technically it's redxred XD ) which plays a big role in this story. I'm actually getting used to typing it so it should be fine...ahaha. No, not really.

But yes, thanks for noticing! I do have this tagged as **Mystery/Friendship **so you're right, the story will definitely be taking an interesting turn XD

**No Beta. **

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******春**: Borderline

The room was a cozy roast brown. Despite knowing that is was still spring, the moment Akakibana sat on a plump armchair decorated with intricate stripe designs, she felt as if she was by a fireplace, snug, warm, and protected.

However, that was only a false reality.

"So, welcome Akakibana-san and Akashi-san! I'm much honored to be able to interview two of the rising youths of the Shogi world," the interviewer exclaimed enthusiastically after clicking on the REC button of his high-tech recorder.

"No, the pleasure is mine. It's been a while since I've been invited to an interview," Akakibana smiled, easing up at his words. Luckily, the interviewer seemed very kind. If she acted naturally, she would definitely be able to leave early!

"Thank you," was Akashi's only response, expression completely unreadable.

The interviewer smiled. "Oh, it seems that Akashi-san has quite the calm demeanor, is this the secret to your recent rise to fame?" he asked eagerly, half-ignoring the girl's previous comment.

Akakibana blinked. Although this was rather common in a double interview…the pace somehow felt a bit too rushed.

"Perhaps ," the red-eyed boy curtly replied, only hastening the pace further.

"Hmm, so that means you have no intentions of telling us eh? That's too bad right Akakibana-san?" he sighed, turning over to the girl.

"A-ah yes," Akakibana blurted, caught completely off guard. She frowned. Why would he suddenly ask that?

"Yes, yes, especially since Akashi-san is very talented. In fact, I can't believe you won that tournament in Asakusa the other day! According to my sources, that was only your third tournament!" the interviewer exclaimed, turning back to Akashi.

The youth's expression stayed flat. Just like the girl, the interviewer's scheme was strewn across his face. He planned to deface the girl by elevating Akashi, an act that happened quite commonly in any competitive community.

Although the prospect of being used wasn't something Akashi found appealing, he decided to make an exception. Objecting would mean coming to her aid after all. Not only was that a redundant effort, he might also lose out on seeing something interesting.

"Yes, but although that may be true, it is only due to the fact that I've never played Shogi formally until recently," Akashi smoothly added.

"Oh really? Then when did you start playing Shogi?" The man inquired.

"Since around 3 years ago. Although, it was only a sport of recreation," he responded.

Akakibana shot up in amazement, eyes of gold widening at his statement. She experienced his abilities as a Shogi player first-hand and by lord was he incredible. The alacrity of his reactions, his intricate spider web plays, and the absolute aura of confidence he held was by no means possible from a novice with only three years of experience. On top of that, he said it was for recreation!

She shot a secretive glance at the boy, sucking in a silent breath.

Unbeknownst to her, the sides of the interviewer's eyes crinkled up ever so slightly.

"Wow only three years! Akakibana-san, as a fellow Shogi player with years of experience, how would you categorize Akashi-san in terms of ability?" He exclaimed, instantly whirling around to the girl.

"Ah! Yes, that's amazing! I don't think I've met someone with his level of skill before but, for that to develop in only three years certainly is an incredible feat!" She exclaimed brightly.

Interestingly enough, the interviewer's face fell.

"Eh?" Akakibana mumbled, startled by his reaction. Did she say something strange?

Akashi stayed silent, contemplating the simplicity of both parties. The interviewer's ploy was simple enough to be seen through, considering how hackneyed it was. On the other hand, the girl was a Shogi player, one that analyzed and created strategies to win yet, she couldn't see through something as simple as that. However, that naivety was exactly what led to such an interesting display. Even the interviewer wouldn't have guessed she would express her honest opinion.

But again, this wasn't something interesting enough to be worth his time. The girl made no sense, not even to herself and thus, from here on, she would be the one regretting.

"O-oh I see," the interviewer grinned, getting back into his groove before a rather malicious smile splayed itself across his face. "But…could this possibly be from first-hand experience? Like when you played in the Asakusa tournament?"

She instantly froze at the name. How did he find out? It was an extremely small-scale tournament with barely over 15 participants! "Wh-wha—"

"Oh Akakibana-san, what's with that look? Are you surprised that I found out? Well, let's just say, don't underestimate a professional?" The interviewer beamed with an irritatingly omniscient grin.

She blinked before the truth finally registered within her. This wasn't an interview…this was a ploy to deface her title!

She bit her lip. "S-so what about that?" She gulped, her nerves flooding back right on cue, more prominent than ever. This was bad, horribly bad. If he planned to get that on the magazine, she couldn't even begin to imagine the damage he could cause.

"Oh, don't look so pale Akakibana-san." He soothed before turning over to Akashi, impassive and silent as ever as his sharp scarlet irises stared right at her.

The interviewer at least, had some degree of caution around him, in fact, he was sure the boy knew long of what was going to transpire and took his silence as acceptance.

Akashi made no effort to deny it.

"We would simply like to know your thoughts on the match," He smiled with a toothy grin.

Akakibana was ready to curse her fate. This was why she didn't want to meet him again, especially at a place like this! "U-um well…" she began, trying to wrack her brain of something to say generic to say. Considering how bluffing and lying were never her strong suits whenever she became flustered, this was turning out to be pretty bad. She had to choose her words carefully or else who knows what could happen when the interview gets published.

"It seems you're a bit tongue-tied at the moment," the interviewer suddenly interjected.

"E-eh?" She blinked. What was he doing?

"Then let me help you. For instance, how did you feel when you were losing in the first round of a tournament?" He glibbed in a taunting voice.

She flinched. He was definitely a professional. His voice was like a snake, slowly coiling around her and suffocating her into despair.

"How did it feel? To be utterly defeated? Were you frustrated? Sad?"

The snake nearly had her completely encased.

The interviewer smirked. That's right, in the end, the world revolved around self-fixation. There was no way someone could be genuinely glad that someone else was better than them in their expertise, especially if that person was MUCH better. Considering how young the girl was, digging out those repulsive feelings of envy proved to be relatively easy. Soon, he would have the perfect scoop.

Akashi sighed. With this, her worth was 99% proven. However, that 1% of uncertainty was what would decide whether she would break or bend.

He stared at the girl apathetically. Her long black hair had covered her face as her head hung low, the words settling like weights on her back.

She clenched her fists.

She was going to break...in a different way.

What was this? First it was the red-head and now it was this interviewer? Throughout the whole day, people have been telling how she felt and to some varying degree, they were right. Was she this easy to read, enough for some random strangers to tear her apart piece by piece. She shut her eyes tight as she heard the man's voice, the snake traverse to the depths of her mind.

"It must've been very humiliating!"

No.

"But it's alright, it couldn't be helped!"

No!

"Your levels just happened to be too far apart."

NO!

"Oh? What's with that face Akakibana-san? You know, even if that's true, there's no need for you to hate him. But, for you, it can't be helped can it?"

...What?

She blinked.

Akashi arched a brow.

That wasn't right. That wasn't right at all. A curt laugh broke under her voice, barely loud enough to be audible. What was this? He was wrong. He was completely wrong!

"U-um Akakibana-san?" The interviewer waved quizzically. He swore he heard a laugh.

In reply, the girl shot up from the armchair, startling the man with the sudden escalation in height.

The snake's hold began to weaken.

"I'm sorry!" Akakibana swiftly bowed, catching the man off guard.

"H-huh?"

"I'm very sorry for delaying my response, in fact, thank you for helping me come up with one properly!" She continued, voice rising in confidence.

The man seemed very confused. Why would she be thanking him?

"S-so then you're reply is…?"

"T-that I actually like Akashi-kun quite a lot so please don't say something like I would resent him just because he's a much better player than me! In fact, you're right! I was frustrated, sad, and humiliated after I lost but, that isn't his fault! That was because I was weak so please don't start putting words into my mouth!" She exclaimed, eyes shut from her embarrassing words.

Although it was generally easier for her to speak if her words came from the heart, sometimes, heartfelt thoughts were a tad too embarrassing to be shared. But at this point, she didn't care, she finally managed to speak, who cares if it was embarrassing?! It would've been even more embarrassing if he actually published her spiteful thoughts onto the magazine!

However, once she opened her eyes, she froze.

Everyone in the room was still. She stared at the interviewer. His jaw was dropped and his eyes were in shock. She turned to the ever-impassive Akashi Seijuro. She blinked.

Even he looked a bit disoriented as she caught an ever so slight whiff of surprise dance in his scarlet eyes.

"U-um A-akakibana-san, d-did I hear that right?" The interviewer slowly inquired.

"H-huh?"

"About you…liking Akashi-kun a lot?"

Ah. She blinked.

AH. Her eyes widened.

AH! She flushed at the implication behind her words.

"N-no t-that w-wasn't what I meant, wasn't at all!" She tried to explain, subconsciously turning to Akashi.

He stared at her blankly…with Kuroko-like eyes, infamously known for their soul-wringing stares.

She was instantly sucked in, receiving the deathblow when the intensity of his stare caused her ears to flare.

"I-I'm very sorry! Please excuse me!" She cried and instantly ran out the room, slamming to door loudly behind her.

The males left behind only cocked their heads curiously before the interviewer began to snigger.

That was the best thing he'd seen all day! He stared at the tape recorder, still on REC with glee. Although in the end, he didn't manage to gather enough "legal" information to publish a demeaning article on the girl's capabilities, he was able to get something more splendid: a confession! This was gold!

"Ahaha, Akashi-san you're quite popular aren't you?" He laughed heartily as he watched the boy rise from his seat, moving towards the doorway.

"Yes, that was a little unexpected," Akashi replied expressionlessly.

"But that was still gold! If you didn't keep silent Akashi-kun, we'd never hear something as interesting as this!" The man exclaimed, hoping for a reaction from the youth. Ever since he arrived, barely any emotion had passed his face. It was actually a bit intimidating with him in the room.

However, at that moment, Akashi suddenly _smiled_, blowing his impressions to dust. The only problem was, it didn't look quite as nice as it sounded.

"Yes, I'm very grateful to you as well. Because of this, I definitely did get to see something interesting." Akashi murmured, tone slightly distant as if in thought. "In fact, I believe payment is in order for the one showing me something interesting." He smiled, eyes staring right at the man.

"H-huh? W-well you didn't have to…" The interviewer mumbled, believing that said reward was for him. Due to the way the boy was dressed, he was certain his family was rich.

"Oh, but I do," Akashi continued, voice clear and sharp like knives. "In fact…I think I'll repay this by taking this tape recorder from you," Akashi smirked, dangling the tape recorder off his finger.

"H-huh what?!" The man cried, whirling around to the spot it was originally placed to find it missing. "W-when did yo—"

"I have my ways." Akashi answered tacitly before grabbing onto both ends of the recorder with a firm hand.

The reporter's eyes widened in bewilderment as he instantly recognized the stance the boy was taking.

"W-wait stop right there! Y-you can't do that!" He cried desperately, rushing up from his chair with alacrity.

But he still wasn't fast enough.

"Oh, but I will," Akashi grinned, scarlet orbs gleaming evilly in the light.

*Crack!*

The recorder broke in two.

**[=]**

She wanted to die.

As Akakibana sat on the porch of the JSA, she heaved out a long sigh. That was definitely the most embarrassing moment of her life. Augh, just remembering it made her queasy. Why was it that every time she didn't want to mess up, she would and blow it up to vastly embarrassing proportions?!

Yet, while lost in her train of thought, she suddenly saw two black rectangles slid across the pavement, ramming into her foot.

Akakibana blinked, bending to inspect them further before surprise lit up her features.

They were remnants…of a tape recorder?

She instantly whipped her head around, her long black hair slightly blocking her sight but that didn't stop her from catching sight of that distinct red hair.

"A-akashi-kun," she breathed as the teen strode towards her yet, instead of becoming flustered like usual, she blinked before a grateful smile spread across her features. "So you helped me, Akashi-kun," she bowed before picking up the fragments.

Surprisingly, she was perceptive this time. In fact, overall she was a lot more calm and resolved. Akashi narrowed his eyes.

"It was only natural," Akashi replied, or rather, stated, judging by the way that the words came out.

Although she didn't seem to have heard him.

Instead, she was intently staring at him, particularly his hair.

Akashi smiled. "You're doing it again," he said, voice slicing through the wind.

"Eh?" Akakibana jolted up at the familiarity of the words. "W-wah!" She gaped, snapping out of her daze.

"Are you sure this cannot be considered stalking anymore?"

She swallowed hard. How did she? Actually when did she end up staring at him again?! "N-no I swear I didn't mean to!" She exclaimed frantically.

The boy however, only began striding down the stairs. "Whether you meant to or not has no importance. As long as it isn't disruptive, it's tolerable so I'll be taking my leave now. I still have some matters to attend to," he sighed, although, in her ears, it translated into: "I don't give a damn so let me leave."

She twitched.

Yet, she was different from who she was 30 minutes ago. Instead of wanting to run from him, after she was forced to face her own failings, she couldn't anymore. Her fears were confirmed. He truly was a genius, able to bring out the worst in her.

She was weak. That was very much proven by the way she acted around him earlier. Now thinking back, it was almost pathetic and...she had no intentions of ending on such an unsightly note.

"Um wait Akashi-kun!" she exclaimed.

The scarlet-haired boy turned back, this time, ruby meeting gold.

Akakibana gulped. As usual, those eyes were quite intimidating. "U-um, I'm sorry for acting like that during the interview Akashi-kun. I mean, it's true that I was definitely depressed, disappointed and all that like he said, in fact, I honestly wanted to avoid you at all costs!" She truthfully confessed.

His gaze never wavered.

"B-but I don't detest you because you're stronger than me, in fact, I really t-think it's great that you're strong so, at school, c-could I play Shogi against you sometime?" She asked, eyes shut in embarrassment.

He slightly contemplated this. Considering how Shogi was a game where one's self could easily be revealed, he was interested in how someone whose very foundations made no sense managed to elude him. Besides, since last week marked the 50th time he won against Midorima, a change of pace was required.

"Of course," Akashi answered, causing the girl to release a sigh of relief.

Yet, she didn't catch that micro-narrowing of Akashi's eyes.

While she was saying those words, tears had slipped out of her eyes. That wasn't natural for someone to do when asking a favor and besides, the first tear fell out of her left eye.

Although Akashi didn't quite buy all of Midorima's excessive preaching about horoscopes and blood types, he couldn't help but recall that when crying, if the first tear fell from the left eye, it would be out of anguish.

That simply made no sense.

He smirked.

* * *

_"But, even if it began with an end, it was still the beginning of our Spring."_

_Spring-Track A_

_End._

* * *

**I wrote this to celebrate an important announcement.**

**THERE'S a SECOND SEASON OF KNB AND IT HAS FINALLY BEEN CONFIRMED! **

**Oh my heart. My heart is all happy again.**

**In any case, hopefully you guys liked this chapter as this basically closes the curtain on the first part of the "Spring" section.**

**It took me so long to write this due to Akashi and Inori's (I GIVE UP! I CAN SLACK OFF IN THE A/N CAN'T I?) characterizations so please tell me what you think, especially if you have any questions or complaints.**

**If you can, please leave a review! That would be greatly appreciated :D **


	4. 春: World of Red

_"__Newfound hope. That is Spring. But you see, newfound darkness...is also Spring."_

_Spring-Track B_

_Start._

* * *

**Note: _Oute -_**_ Checkmate in Shogi_

* * *

******春**: World of Red

"Midorimacchi!"

In the middle of making decorations for the imminent cultural festival, Akakibana Inori peeked outside the window. She recognized that voice, in fact, she doubted that there was someone who didn't and just as she suspected, it was Kise Ryouta, the popular blonde model that caused random intervals of screaming to occur around her ordinary life.

She had to admit, he really was handsome and, perhaps that was the reason she looked out but once she did, she no longer registered the blonde-haired boy. All that reflected in her eyes was red, a beautiful scarlet red.

It was Akashi Seijuro along with the rest of the members of the basketball team, clad in their uniforms, back from a game. She counted 4 members…no 5…or not?

She rubbed her eyes. She swore she saw a boy around the same height as Akashi.

"Huh? Kise?" She heard Midorima Shintaro, her fellow classmate demand as she watched the green-haired youth crane his neck out the window, staring at the group below.

"Well, Midorimacchi looks so lonely up there so I thought we should invite you with us to get ice cream! We won another game today Midorimacchi~" Kise exclaimed brightly.

"Kise, the whole reason I skipped today's game was for this, don't go inviting me out when I'm still not done!" Midorima scowled.

Akakibana stared with intrigue. Midorima was usually very straight-laced and calm in class. She didn't expect his outburst at all.

"Oh Nori-chan, I see you've become quite the daring stalker," a bright voice observed, instantly causing Akakibana to jump.

"T-Tomie-san?!" Akakibana gaped, barely managing to catch her breath as she kept her voice as quiet as possible.

There were only 7 people left in the room still helping with their class' preparations, drawing attention here was suicide, especially when the topic in question was "stalking".

Luckily, everyone else was either too fixated on Kise or on their work to notice. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you still going to call me by my last name?" The voice asked as Akakibana tilted her head up, facing a girl with brown hair, neatly brushed and accented with clips. Akakibana slightly smiled. Tomie Yuu was the first person who approached her after she transferred to Teiko and although she didn't readily show it, she was glad to have her there. Calling her without honorifics though…was another story.

"I'm sorry, it still just feels…a bit strange for me right now," Akakibana apologized.

Tomie only smiled. "Well that's alright Nori-chan but, it always makes me wonder why you find that awkward…" She murmured trailing off thoughtfully before then beaming, "but that doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is whether love has struck my little seaweed (nori) here~," She grinned, placing a hand on Akakibana's coal black hair.

Akakibana sighed. Although she considered her a great friend, Tomie liked to joke around quite a bit. "Love? Tomie-chan, please stop joking around," Akakibana retorted.

"Eh? But I'm serious; you've been constantly staring at him ever since you lost that day, if it isn't a sign of love, what is?" Tomie demanded.

Akakibana grimaced. She should've never told Tomie about how she lost to him and about the incidents that transpired during the interview last week.

"No it isn't out of love, it's just—"

"That you're a complete creep who would hold an obsessive grudge over someone just because you lost horribly to him," Tomie voiced with a tad too beatific smile.

Akakibana sweatdropped. "Can I take the "love" option back?" she weakly mumbled in defeat. Never mind, the "love" option sounded a lot nicer in this case.

"Yay~ Nori-chan is in love~" Tomie cooed with content before her grin instantly deflated. "Ahh, Nori-chan, you should really be taking this more seriously, you're in middle school, you should experience a bit of romance!" She prodded.

Akakibana smiled. Technically, it's been a bit over a month since the girls met and even though the two almost instantly clicked, she still found her antics far too outrageous. However, no one said that was a bad thing.

"But there's no reason that it has to be Akashi-kun right? Besides, I've barely spoken to him since then. I mean every time I ask him if he has time, he always says he's busy," Akakibana pointed out but only ended up deflating her self-esteem.

Although Akashi did agree at the time, Akakibana couldn't help but feel awkward whenever she was about to ask and even when she did, with embarrassment flaring through her ears, his toneless rejection always shot her down.

Tomie stared at her meaningfully. She always found Akakibana to be a bit eccentric, particularly how she could be strong at times and a push-over at others but, that push-over side was dominating since the girl met Akashi.

She grinned. "Aww, is Nori-chan lonely? But, it can't be helped. He is the captain of our school's national-level basketball team," Tomie reminded.

Akakibana knew that very well in fact, when she first found out, she was awestruck. For one thing, he was short…er short_er_ than the average basketball player was and for another, he apparently took over the team in his first-year! How in the world was that possible?!

Akakibana sighed. Somehow, she felt as if he was worlds away from her reach and in truth, she was right. She really knew nothing about him.

Wait…why was she even curious about his background? She only wanted to improve her Shogi skills right?

Akakibana stared at that dot of scarlet expressionlessly. Yet, in the next instant, Akashi's head turned, tilting upwards until his sharp red eyes met hers.

She nearly jumped but didn't dare look away when she caught Akashi part his lips, moving to form silent words.

She wasn't very adept at lip-reading but her ears instantly flushed at his words.

_"I see you've become quite the daring stalker," _He smirked and she would've leapt right out to deny it, especially after he said the same thing as Tomie! Was she really a stalker?!

Yet immediately afterwards, Akashi walked away, striding towards Midorima's window and tossing something up.

She saw the duo exchange a few words before Midorima sighed, pushing his glasses up in a manner that Akakibana actually considered quite charming before he strode over, inching close and closer to the two girls.

"M-midorima-kun?

"Akakibana, here," Midorima said flatly as his bandaged palm opened, revealing a crumpled piece of paper.

"Thank you Midorima-kun," she said, taking it without question. She was a bit surprised to do so.

Yet at that moment, Midorima narrowed his eyes.

"Akakibana," he said, voice layered with a hint of concern.

She glanced up at the verdant teen.

"You…didn't happen to have done anything wrong to Akashi have you?"

Akakibana blinked. "N-no…?" Where was this going…?

"…I see, then that's fine." Just like that, Midorima turned, retreating back to the window but ever so slightly, she noticed the hesitation in his movement, as if pondering whether he should save her or not.

Akakibana raised a brow. She wondered what could've been so terrifying that even the straight-laced Midorima would cringe to.

Well, obviously, Akashi Seijuro.

But the girl didn't know that.

She only opened the note, eyes widening in surprise.

[=]

What was this? Really, what in the world was this?!

She wasn't even hopeful about playing against Akashi but, not only did that come true, he was the one who asked first!

Somehow, that very notion made her heart skip a beat, in fact, it was beating so hard that she couldn't exactly play properly as she stared at the Shogi board before her, Akashi seated neatly on the other side.

But, it wasn't out of "love" as Tomie would've described, it was more or less the sheer pressure of his gaze, scanning her every move.

She was a nervous wreck. Perhaps he was disappointed with her or perhaps she was about to make a mistake, she didn't know but that speculating gaze accompanied by a hollowing silence in the room was driving her mad. She never felt so pressured before!

_"So he invited you?! Then you must make conversation!" _She recalled Tomie squeal before she rejected the idea. Chatting while playing would turn it into a leisure activity and Akakibana couldn't afford that. She was here to improve after all…but, well, she couldn't exactly concentrate in this atmosphere…

"U-um Akashi-kun, are you going to participate in the cultural festival?" Akakibana suddenly blurted, completely caving in from the pressure.

Akashi however, looked a bit surprised at her comment. "Yes but, I didn't expect you to ask that," he answered.

Akakibana tilted her head. "Eh? Why?"

"Well, you seemed as if you believe that Shogi shouldn't be considered a leisure activity," he said simply but instantly ended up stabbing her in the heart.

She flinched. It was exactly what she was thinking!

Akashi smirked at her reaction. "Well, well…" he began, voice practically sending chills up her spine.

Suddenly, she felt uneasy again.

"It seems I was right," he said before he suddenly maneuvered a Shogi piece. "About that and…about this. _Oute,_" He smirked, placing his piece in direct assault for her King.

"Ah!" Akakibana jolted up with a start. When did this happen?!

Yet before she could release a complaint, a slight knock resounded in the room.

"Ah so Akashi-kun was here after all," a soft voice mused flatly as the door slid open, revealing a fair skinned boy with powder blue hair, hands full with a stack of letters in one hand and some red carnations in the other.

She swore she saw him before…yet she found herself staring at the carnations in his hand instead.

"Tetsuya, you haven't left yet?" Akashi asked.

"I was busy with my class's preparations. Besides Akashi-kun, that person there is…?" "Tetsuya" murmured, turning to the girl.

"Ah, 2-C's Akakibana Inori," Akakibana automatically introduced with a bow.

The boy did the same. "Oh, from Midorima-kun's class… Nice to meet you, I'm 2-A's Kuroko Tetsuya," he addressed in a way where she couldn't discern his sincerity. His voice was too monotonous.

"Then Tetsuya, did you have some business with me?" Akashi suddenly interrupted, hacking off the awkwardness produced by the rather silent duo.

"Yes, Akashi-kun, these are for you. The club members were all gathered around the gym so it was quite troublesome for Aomine-kun and I." Kuroko voiced with a slight hint of distaste as he passed the stack of letters to his captain.

Akakibana snuck a peek, wondering if they could possibly be the infamous "love letters" before she instantly cringed at the sight.

"LETTER OF CHALLENGE!"

The words were written on each envelope with brush, bold and dark in font before they continued down to things such as: "to the Chess Tournament!" or "to the Game of Life Tournament!"

…Wait, to the Game of Life Tournament?!

"Hmm, it seems I've gotten a lot more than I've expected," Akashi mused, swiftly flipping through them.

"You're planning on accepting all of them?!" Akakibana squeaked in astonishment.

Akashi glanced back at her in bemusement, as if she had asked a ridiculous question. "Of course, I would accept all challenges without question whenever a prize can be obtained, " He answered, scarlet-eyes flashing with a smirk. Yet, the way he worded it almost seemed as if he didn't care for the value of the prize but saw it as an excuse to kill time.

Akakibana only sweatdropped. Was he supposed to be a bounty hunter?!

Kuroko only stared at the sight blankly as if he was well accustommed to it. "Well Akashi-kun, before I leave, would you like a carnation? Apparently my class bought a bit too much for our booth," he offered as Akashi glanced at the red beauty.

"Ah, actually, could I have that instead?" Akakibana suddenly interrupted, rushing over to the boy without hesitation.

Akashi arched his brow. Her reserve was gone again.

"…Of course, is that okay with you Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked, turning to his captain.

The scarlet-haired boy nodded.

Akakibana beamed at the sight. "Ah thank you Kuroko-kun. I really love the color red so carnations are actually my favorite flowers!" she thanked with glee.

"I'm glad you like them," Kuroko responded with a whiif of a smile and for once, Akakibana almost found him to be attractive. Unlike Midorima or Akashi, there was an actual courteous aura around him!

Soon afterwards, Kuroko Tetsuya took his leave, saying something about basketball practice with "Aomine-kun" before the truth suddenly dawned in her eyes.

He was on the basketball team?!

Upon asking, Akakibana's discovery was only confirmed when she received a smirk from Akashi before he added, "of course, in fact, he's Teiko's trump card."

But… he was shorter than Akashi!

She was blown away by this new piece of information.

However, Akakibana couldn't help but be slightly captivated by the sight of the boy as he said those words. There was actually a fond look in his eyes, ones completely unknown to her as he spoke about Kuroko, about his team.

She didn't know that look. Actually, now that she thought about it, she didn't know any of the sides he showed her today.

She was slightly jealous…but at the same time, she was glad.

"That's good Akashi-kun, to have some people you can really trust," she smiled, causing the boy to turn back.

However, the look in his eyes wasn't as warm as she expected, instead, it was hard and cold.

A lump emerged in her throat. Did she say something wrong?

Luckily, his scarlet irises softened soon after but grew distant as well. "That's true. It's true that I have a team I can truly rely on," he began, eyes darting towards the large window by the table, permeating beams of afternoon sun. "However…there are some things that can only be accomplished alone."

Akakibana tilted her head quizzically. "Alone? Why would someone want to be alone?" she asked. From her experiences, especially with the JSA, being alone in a competitive world was a terrible thing. It was as if the whole world was out to get you.

Akashi paused for a moment...before a curt grin passed his face. "...That, is exactly what I would like to see," He concluded although, Akakibana didn't feel as if it was addressed to her entirely.

"Eh?" She blurted in confusion.

He didn't reply. He simply faced the dusk-ridden sky, streaming in from the huge arched window and as Akakibana stared at his figure, she noticed something about him personally for the first time.

Even though the two saw the same scenery and breathed the same air, the world he saw was completely different from hers, completely different from possibly everyone else in the world. Yet, she didn't understand that world. Therefore, she wasn't fit to see it.

The only thing she saw in that world was a barren landscape, an empty world of red.

She thought it was lonely, unbearably so.

Yet, that was perfect for him.

She stared at that scarlet whorl of hair in silence…before she caught him turning to her with a hint on intrigue.

She blinked. She didn't quite like that look in his eye.

"Akakibana, you said you loved the color red correct?" He suddenly asked.

"E-eh? Yes?" Akakibana blurted back, what did this have to do with anything?

Yet, the moment she responded, a smile crept up his lips.

"…I see…" he mused before pausing. "I certainly didn't expect it to be that shallow of a reason…" he continued.

Akakibana only furrowed her brows in confusion. "U-um reason? About what?" although immediately after, she wished she hadn't asked.

"You're stalking," he said, frank enough for her to choke on her own saliva.

WHY DID EVERYONE HAVE TO CALL IT THAT?!

Her face instantly burned red, living up to her name "**Aka**kibana" but, considering how she herself didn't know, she couldn't help but let curiosity get the best of her.

Sadly, immediately after, she wished she had run out in embarrassment like before.

Akashi parted his lips.

"Well, it seems that you've stalked me because you're attracted to the color of my hair," he diagnosed apathetically.

Akakibana simply blinked.

"…Eh?"

Wait...what?!


	5. 春：Stalkerism

**I'm an idiot for not thinking of this later but since writing Spring for the sections and then Summer will take away from chapter title word count, I've decided to do this instead:**

**春 （spring）**

**夏 (summer)**

**秋 (fall)**

**冬 (winter)**

**I hope this will make things clear if you see random jap characters for the title XD**

* * *

**春 : Stalkerism**

The afternoon dawn streamed into a high-arched open Victorian window, gently caressing its fluttering white curtains that gave way to stray cherry blossom petals. The mood was refreshing but romantic, further emphasized by the presence of a boy and a girl, one standing by the windows and the other with red carnations in hand.

It was like a scene out of a Shoujo manga…except that the truth was far from romantic, unless of course, stalking was considered romantic.

_ "I'm afraid you've been stalking me due to your obsession over the color of my hair."_

The girl reeled over as his words replayed in her blank mind before her brain began to load comically like a computer, a gasp of horror replacing her idle expression.

"W-what?!" She cried, no longer able to contain her volume while the boy barely raised a brow. "T-t-there's no way that's true!" She denied, shutting her eyes, up to her ears in embarrassment. Was he saying that she was a completely shallow person who would stalk anyone based on looks?!

A smile formed on his lips. "Then can you prove me wrong?" he suddenly challenged, scarlet orbs flashing with bemusement. Akakibana instantly flinched, shivers jolting down her spine. He suddenly turned terrifying in her eyes. No wonder Midorima acted that way around her!

"W-well...um…!" She fumbled, tongue twisting for words to say, while darting away from his daunting scarlet eyes. However, with her brain in frenzy, it was impossible for her to form a sound argument as to why she was indeed _not_ a stalker with a fetish for red things!

Noting her inability to retaliate, Akashi sighed, maneuvering towards her.

"You can't deny it. You should've already noticed how your eyes always dart to my hair or my eyes instead of my face." He began, causing her to flinch, memory bank rewinding at the mere mention as she recalled her rather reflexive and near dreamy-eyed stares back during the interview session.

She gulped. This was bad. If she used his statements to piece together her aberrant actions from the past, she knew without trying that he was right…he was right!

The world crumbled beneath her eyes.

Great. Not only was she a stalker…she was a deviant as well?!

Seeing her head hang low, shocked eyes covered by her long black hair, shimmering orange from the afternoon sun, a curt smile spread across the boy's sharp features. "Akakibana." He said rather gently, contrasting his daunting tone from before.

She hesitantly glanced up at him, "Yes?" she uttered.

Akashi suddenly slung the arm of his blazer over. "Unfortunately, I have an appointment right about now so I'll have to leave first," he curtly explained, neatly sporting his school blazer.

She stared at him in confusion. He wasn't going to press this issue at all?

As if reading her mind, Akashi gave her an omniscient grin. "If it isn't disruptive, it isn't a problem." He reassured, causing her ears to flare once more. No, the fact that he was completely convinced of her holding bordering creepy tendencies was the problem! Was he doing this on purpose?

"Akakibana, Shintarou will hand you another slip when I have time again, is that alright with you?" Akashi continued, although again, it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Akakibana was more than surprised. "Eh? We're still doing this?" She asked, shocked that he was still willing to go against her despite being clearly superior by destroying her in not only Shogi but her self-worth as well.

Akashi only gave her a strange look, slightly tilting his head. "Of course, you're interesting after all," he blankly replied.

She widened her eyes. "Well, excuse me." She heard him say as he opened the door.

She stayed silent.

Promptly, the door was shut with a near-silent click.

He was gone and she…looked completely stoned.

_"Of course, you're interesting after all."_

The words were practically spinning around her mind. However, unlike Tomie who would've interpreted his words as a near-love confession, Akakibana knew better…especially with the look he gave her.

Forget about love, forget about even friendship, the look he gave her wasn't something he gave a human. He was analyzing her, looking upon her-no _through_ her as if she was a Shogi board, a puzzle. As if, she was just another way…to kill time.

She didn't like the sound of that.

**[=]**

10 minutes past the lunch bell ring, two girls were already on the deserted rooftop, leaning against the side of the entranceway and nibbling away at their lunch as one of the girls, a brunette with hair fashionably curled to form two ringlets, peeled her eyes away from her friend and darted to the sky.

A gentle breeze blew by.

"…I see…Nori-chan your love life crumbles the moment I look away huh?" Tomie Yuu sighed in exasperation after forcing her friend to cough out the details about her "alone time" with Akashi Seijuro.

"Tomie-san, it has nothing to do with love!" Akakibana protested for the umpteenth time before slumping down in gloom. "But…I can't say I'm satisfied for being called shallow," she sulked, picking at the rest of her tamagoyaki.

Tomie blinked, staring at her golden-eyed friend in bemusement. She had never seen her friend sulk before. In fact, ever since Akashi Seijuro appeared, Akakibana seemed to have drastically changed.

However, Tomie only narrowed her eyes.

"Change" wasn't always necessarily a good thing.

"Well! If that's the case, you just have to prove Akashi Seijuro wrong right? Nori-chan definitely isn't shallow!" Tomie enthusiastically declared, confidently looking straight into Akakibana's eyes.

Akakibana widened her eyes. "Tomie-san…" she uttered, touched by this near-foreign form of support.

Tomie grinned back…although it was more malicious than nice. "That's why…" she began, accumulating in dangerous sparkles. "You have to clear away that misunderstanding by declaring your love!" She exclaimed, instantly causing Akakibana to slam her head into the wall. She was stupid for believing in her!

Sighing in exasperation, the girl suddenly felt something wet plop down her cheek. She blinked. It was a clear day and as she wiped it away, she noticed it was a creamy white substance. Her brows instantly twitched in irritation, Tomie clearly did something again.

"Tomie-san, stop that!" Akakibana reprimanded, head whirling up to see the perpetrator above yet, instead of catching whiff of those teased auburn curls, blue filled her golden orbs.

"Ah I'm sorry Akakibana-san," a voice deadpanned as Akakibana instantly recognized the person before her.

She blanched into a ghastly color, feeling enough faint for her to lose the voice that should've accompanied her dropping jaw. It was Kuroko Tetsuya, the apparent "trump" card of Teiko basketball team, which meant he was probably beyond close with Akashi. On this occasion however, he was beyond close to her, close enough that there was no way he wouldn't have heard what Tomie practically screamed to the world.

"K-KUROKO-kun?! When did you get here?!" Tomie surprisingly gasped as Akakibana spun to her friend with a confused look. They knew each other?!

"Oh Tomie-san, I was here for quite awhile but, it was hard to find a chance to say anything or leave," Kuroko apologized, leaving Akakibana slightly unconvinced due to his expressionless tone.

Tomie on the other hand found it completely acceptable. "Oh I see, well that's okay Kuroko-kun~, you were always pretty invisible in the class last year so I don't blame you," she breezily replied, allowing Akakibana to gather that they were classmates during first year. "But…did you happen to hear us Kuroko-kun?" Tomie suddenly continued, flashing the boy a shimmering smile layered with danger.

Shockingly, Kuroko Tetsuya didn't even appear slightly sheepish as most males would do upon hearing a clearly misleading "girl talk".

"Ah yes I did," he frankly replied.

On cue, Akakibana looked ready to die. This was embarrassing, excessively embarrassing!

Tomie however looked excessively pleased and as if preempting that, before words can escape her lips, Kuroko monotones, "oh but I have no plans to help Tomie-san," whilst sipping on the rest of his vanilla shake.

Akakibana sweatdropped. Even Akashi's 6th man knew the pain of being stuck with Tomie.

Like a sucked out balloon, Tomie's grin instantly deflated. However, she didn't look like she was ever going to back down. Oh boy, she was going to commence operation: Puppy Dog Eyes.

A lot of sugar-coated pleading followed. However, being the skilled misdirection user he was, Kuroko continued to parry all her verbal pleas.

Akakibana stared at the sight. He was…definitely unusual and ever since that incident with Akashi, she knew that was probably exactly what Akashi was looking for. Something interesting, something, intriguing something—ah. Did the boy just vanish?!

"Ah! Kuroko-kun?!" Tomie cried in outrage once the boy disappeared from all sides of her peripheral.

All that was left was but a single note in Akakibana's hands.

The girl stared at it, brow twitching at its words.

_"But, Akakibana-san, Akashi-kun has never been wrong so what he said about you is probably true."_

She flinched. Somehow, another random stranger was telling her things about her life…AGAIN.

Yet, instead of moping over such things, a feeling of fascination for the bluenette came across her, especially after his disappearing act.

He was beyond interesting—he was a ninja. But, didn't that mean he was the same as her?

_"Of course, you're interesting after all."_

That was what Akashi said to her.

Kuroko was probably also defined as "interesting", by the boy. Yet, unlike with her, Akashi showed warmth in his eyes when he spoke about the bluenette—and that was all too foreign to her.

What was so different about her?

Actually…why did she even care?

**[=]**

After that, Akakibana rarely saw Akashi. Despite catching that familiar whiff of red passing through the halls, she chose to ignore it on a subconscious level, still in denial of his words. There was no way that was true, no matter _what_ any of the others said.

From time to time however, she would receive strange glances from a scowling Midorima, only confirming her fears. Akashi Seijuro had some incredible hold on his teammates. In fact, now that she thought about it, Midorima was probably also considered "interesting" by the red-head, especially with his array of "lucky items" the teacher became too exhausted to confiscate.

"Akakibana, are you done the finalizations?" A low and near velvety voice demanded. She glanced up, meeting a verdant youth towering over her crouched figure.

"Ah yes, of course," she replied, placing the last of the decorations for their class café onto the wall.

"Good. The booth opens tomorrow after all," Midorima sighed.

"Yes," Akakibana agreed as she glanced over at her class' elaborate handiwork, placing maximized effort into decorating, organizing, and setting up their Victorian café. She smiled; everything was neatly done.

"Oh but, Midorima-kun, you're going to spend half your time at the fortune-telling society's booth right?" Akakibana recalled.

"Ah, yes, they personally asked me to help," Midorima intoned with a hint of pride.

Akakibana sucked in a breath. He was definitely weird. Akakibana had never met a guy who took pride in fortune-telling before…or, as her eyes darted to his breast pocket, carried a stuffed toy frog around.

"Ah…then I'll have to get some people to cover for both of us, since I've been invited to the Shogi tournament myself…" The ebony-haired girl murmured, wondering if she should hand the job to Tomie. Well, she was better suited to be under a spotlight than Akakibana.

Midorima furrowed his brows, allowing his permanent scowl to show. "What? You're participating in the Shogi tournament?" he asked.

Akakibana blinked. "Yes, is something the matter?"

"Ah no…it's just that, I'm surprised that you would be willing to, considering how the Shogi club is probably going to place their club hopes on you, it would be quite troublesome." Midorima replied,

The girl tilted her head in confusion. "Club hopes?" she mumbled, not understanding where this was going.

Seeing her reaction, Midorima tilted his brow. "The Shogi club didn't tell you? Akashi told me they bet you against him and if he wins, our basketball club gets 1/3 of their funds."

"...WHAT?!"

* * *

**Since the spring section is finally nearing its end, I'll definitely be posting the cultural festival bit in about 2 or 3 days. (most of my exams are over~ WHEEE)**

**I hope you liked this chapter!**

**But a head's up. I plan on sticking quite close to canon so everything in the cultural festival here (without Akakibana) happens in the actual replace novel. **

**If you haven't read it and would like to read the novel translations, search up: animemangadaisuki replace on google and you'll find her tumblr site with the translations :D**


	6. 春：The End of Spring

**春 : The End of Spring**

Time waits for no one and in her case, it was especially true as Akakibana found herself wandering towards the Shogi club.

Midorima was right. The members only intended to place her against Akashi. They only called her over only half an hour before lunch!

She sighed, clearly not looking forward to this because despite her complaints, it was too late to change anything. In fact, it was as if the Shogi club predicted this because when she headed over to the clubroom yesterday afternoon, not a single soul was present despite them clearly having to set up their booth.

She released another sigh. Well, she'll just get it over with and leave.

"Oh! AoKise pair has made it to the lead!" A MC suddenly announced from the windows, startling the girl as she peered over from the third floor onto the student-laden sports field. Indeed, a speck of blue and yellow were gaining distance from all the other runners in what seemed to be a three-legged race.

She did recall Tomie telling her about her school's legendary three-legged race, sponsored yearly by the puzzle society. There were many things wrong with the context but Akakibana decided not to question such. In fact, her attention reeled back to the word "Aokise"…as the MC had called and wow, either she had been spending way too much time with Tomie or that sounded way too suggestive through her ears.

"But… they look like they're having fun," Akakibana smiled as she heard the cheers from the sidelines. She was slightly envious but, promptly after, she continued down towards the Shogi club. Well, then she should have a little fun too right?

However, once she reached its opened doors, she was astounded by the huge aggregation of old men crowding around the room, all at one particular table where she promptly caught sight of that familiar red.

She sweatdropped. Ah…Midorima was right and by the looks of the half-filled sack by Akashi's feet, she also knew that he went "bounty hunting" as well.

"N-no, this can't be! H-how?!" Akashi's unfortunate opponent cried in horror as Akakibana stared, pitying the boy while Akashi, with a rather passive yet taunting tone of voice declared, "_Outei."_

Wails followed suit.

The girl sighed…before catching herself. Wait, did she just get used to this?!

But well, since the president was defeated, she would no doubt be next wouldn't she? Although she had no qualms about such a one-sided play since it was completely fair, she wasn't quite looking forward to it either anymore.

She slightly grimaced but readily accepted her fate. Perhaps then, the Shogi club would stop pestering her to join.

"Wow, that boy's amazing!"

"Oh, he's a prodigy! I've never seen someone make such an elaborate game with that kind of speed! He reacts right away!"

Suddenly, Akakibana froze, no longer showing the same doleful expression as before. Instead, her face blanked.

She turned on her heels, silently slipping away from the room.

"EH?! Akakibana-san still isn't here?!" The club president demanded after one of his members called him to the side.

With his volume, Akashi easily overheard as he sat by the board, waiting for the club to present him either with his next opponent or his prize.

Akashi narrowed his eyes, scarlet orbs darting over to the open doorway.

In the next instant however, he turned, sharp scarlet knifing through the president. "Well it seems your trump card still hasn't arrived and of course, it's way past the designated time." He smirked, causing the poor senior to flinch.

"E-eh b-but—"

Akashi sharpened his glare. "I believe that was the condition was it not? So please…hand over the funds," Akashi smirked as he retrieved a blank cheque from his pocket and slid it across the table.

The unfortunate president trembled.

Akashi shot him another glare.

With a flinch, a jolt, and a shudder here and there, the president promptly signed the check.

With satisfaction, Akashi left, hauling the sack with him. "Hmm, it seems we'll be able to do yet another summer camp this year," he smirked, literally promising imminent doom to his regulars.

**[=]**

"Uwaa, thank you so much for covering for me Akakibana-san!" Her classmate exclaimed as Akakibana handed over her costume, signaling the end of her shift. The moment she stepped out from the Shogi room was the moment Tomie ran up to her about how they were short-handed.

"No problem," Akakibana politely smiled, waving goodbye to the girl, wiping off the last of the perspiration gained from the hectic servicing. As Midorima predicted, their booth would be extremely popular, especially due to the huge line that had been crowding in the room next door where the famous Kise Ryouta once was. After the dispersal of the fangirls, many decided to settle in their quaint cafe, enjoying the exquisite delights it held.

"Ah…that was tirin—!" Akakibana instantly smacked into something. Hard.

She was immediately knocked to the floor.

"Ah, I'm sorry, are you alright?" A voice asked with a familiar monotone. It was the ninj—no, it was Kuroko Tetsuya, startling her once more as to how she didn't notice him despite the halls being devoid of people.

"Ah yes I'm alri—"

"KUROKO!" Another familiar yet loud and seething voice yelled from the distance interrupted.

Akakibana squinted. This time it was Midorima Shintaro…along with a pink and purple-haired duo, madly dashing over to them like a stampede.

She flinched when she caught the seething rage in Midorima's eyes. What did Kuroko do?!

"Ah, Midorima-kun's going to catch up," Kuroko deadpanned as she shot him an incredulous look.

He sounded way too calm! It was obvious the male was going to shred him alive!

"A-ah! K-kuroko-kun! Come here!" Akakibana exclaimed in the flurry, not exactly sure of what she was doing before she snatched his arm and dragged him down an intersection before diving into the crowds of people and slipping into a storeroom. Due to the force and velocity she applied, Kuroko was forced to follow.

"Phew, I think you should be safe from Midorima-kun…?" Akakibana murmured uncertainly as she slumped down onto the floor, not used to the running. She was apparently fast but…her stamina had always been ridiculously low.

However, instead of receiving a thank-you-for-saving-me-from-being-perpetually-mai med, she found the bluenette blankly staring at her.

"Um…Akakibana-san, I believe you have the wrong idea," the silent boy finally stated.

"E-eh? B-but I've never seen Midorima-kun so mad before!" She exclaimed in disbelief.

"Is that so? Midorima-kun is always like this at practice," Kuroko replied.

She gaped at him. Like that?! What in the world was basketball practice doing to him?!

"In fact, I needed Midorima-kun to chase me actually so this is slightly going to be a bit of a problem," Kuroko continued, trailing off as he seemed to ponder what his next move should be.

"Eh? Why?"

"…For the three-legged race of course. There's a puzzle component to it as well," he explained as Akakibana finally lodged the pieces in place. OH!

Immediately, she flushed out of embarrassment. "I-I'm really sorry!" She exclaimed, bowing in apology.

"Eh? Ah no, it's okay Akakibana-san. Besides, if you didn't do that, I probably would've been caught," Kuroko stopped, causing Akakibana to squint. Eh? What was this? Suddenly he looked…extremely cool in her eyes.

"Well, I'll be going before Midorima-kun decides to give up," Kuroko bowed, heading for the door.

Akakibana instantly jolted up. "W-wait!" She cried, clasping his wrist.

He turned, slight surprise registering in his orbs. "Yes?"

"U-um about Akashi-kun…" Akakibana began hesitantly. "Um, what do you think about him?" She blurted with surprising amounts of concentration. She wanted to know why Kuroko was around him, why everyone else was around him in a way that felt so foreign to her.

"Akashi-kun?" Kuroko repeated, slightly tilting his head. "…Is this about what he said to you?"

She flushed. "N-no not that! In fact, please don't remind me of it!" She cried, squeezing her eyes shut. Why did that stalker comment have to follow her everywhere she went?!

"Hah…but, it does seem to be about that. Did Akashi-kun say anything else to you?" Kuroko asked insightfully.

Akakibana blinked. _"Of course, you're interesting after all."_

Once again, the words reeled through her mind.

She grimaced. It was eating away at her mind. However, maybe because it was because it was Kuroko, because it felt as if his vast blue orbs woudln't betray her was what caused her to spill out the words that had been pounding in her mind.

She looked up at him with a slight flinch, wondering if scorn would come across his dulled expression.

"...Akashi-kun...is amazing isn't he?" The bluenette suddenly mused.

Akakibana blinked. "Eh? Y-yes?"

"I respect him a lot and he's done a lot for me over the years. Does that answer your question?" Kuroko concluded, blank irises reflecting into hers.

"Eh?" Where was this going? What was the point of her telling him if he pushed it off?

"That's why Akakibana-san, what I'd like to know is why you look at him, unless you're truly shallow enough to stalk him for his looks," Kuroko intoned, causing her to jolt with that last comment. Despite his looks, he was actually quite the smart-aleck.

Yet human adaptability was incredible. She was already beyond tired of hearing that to retaliate properly. In fact, she decided to focus on his words instead. Somehow, it felt as if he was guiding her to an answer and for that, she was grateful.

But, even she didn't expect the answer to come so naturally.

"Because...Akashi-kun is amazing." she blurted, shocked that her own thoughts were identical to Kuroko's.

A ghost of a smile passed Kuroko's wan visage. "Right?" He replied, as if expecting this the whole time. That was anyone's impression of Akashi, to the point where no one could truly say anything bad about him. "That's why..." Kuroko continued, heading for the door. "I don't really understand your worries."

"H-huh?"

Her golden irises met that pure blank blue, filled with a contrast of innocence and sagacity. "Because...if it were me, I would be glad that Akashi-kun was properly looking back." He stated blankly, easily spilling out words that would cause most others to steam before they finished.

...He was definitely strange. Akakibana would've belonged to the "ordinary" that would've probably burned a deep red before proceeding with faint. "B-b-but Akashi-kun doesn't! H-he just called me interesting! As if I was a thing!" She sputtered, attempting to be coherent yet she was not met with much of a response except a slight pause.

"Really? But...isn't that enough?"

"What?" Akakibana blinked. Somehow, the tone he used seemed to suggest something else, a meaning deeply encased behind his words.

The bluenette released a hint of a smile. "Beca-"

"Tetsu-kun! Where are you?!" A muffled high-pitched voice cried from the other side of the door.

"OI KUROKO COME OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!" Another roared, fury seething from his words.

Akakibana sweatdropped. They were still going at it?!

"Ah, they're calling me." Kuroko stated, already reverting back to his poker face. "Well, Akakibana-san, I'll be leaving first," he politely bowed before instantly pushing over its doors.

"Eh wait!" The golden-eyed girl cried but he instantly vanished...like a ninja, leaving her to her own devices as she replayed his words in her mind.

_"But...isn't that enough?"_

Enough? That seemed to sound as if...she was expecting more; as if, she was simply acting like a cranky child on Christmas that didn't receive the present they desired.

She shook her head.

She was probably over-thinking it.

**[=]**

It became apparent that Akashi's endeavors of destroying practically every board game related club in the school had to come to an end. The sack that was now bulging with prizes neatly sat on a chair as Akashi stared at it in contemplation.

He flipped out his phone.

"Atsushi, would you like some sweets?" The red-head asked through his equally red cellular as a soothingly happy voice readily agreed on the other side.

"Okay then, meet me in the economics room..._after _your shift ends," he declared, causing a slight pout to sound on the other side before agreeing with reluctance.

Apparently, he would be there in about 20 minutes.

Sighing, Akashi seated upon the chair next to it as he slowly closed his eyes, savoring the silence the room provided.

A gentle wind streamed across his red locks.

"...Akashi-kun?" A quiet voice blurted with a hint of surprise.

He opened his eyes, scarlet locking on gold. "Oh? I believe this room wasn't supposed to be in use?" He mused as he registered a girl with long ebony hair that ran down her back with a large cardboard box in her arms.

"Ah...Yes but...our booth borrowed some things from here and they turned out to be a bit...excessive so I came to return them." Akakibana Inori explained as she headed towards one of the cupboards, slipping the box inside.

Akashi made no motion to move but, a curt smirk spread on his lips. "It seems Shintaro is working hard as usual," he remarked, instantly causing the girl to grimace.

He hit the nail on the head but...at this point, she didn't expect anything else from him. She sighed. Indeed, Midorima went overboard and got them a lot of excessive things while preaching to her something about, "man proposes, god disposes."

Due to the complaints of her classmates, she had no choice but to hide them in the economics room, praying that the enraged male she saw during lunch wouldn't find out.

"But, the same can be said for Akashi-kun. Did you come here to relax after you filled the sack?" Akakibana noted.

Ever so slightly, Akakibana caught the slight narrowing of his eyes. She blinked. What was that about?

Yet, proceeding on with the same manner of nonchalance, Akashi replied, "Yes in fact, I plan on meeting someone here."

"O-oh is that so?"

"However...that reminds me. Akakibana, would you mind coming over here?" The scarlet-eyed boy asked yet despite the question marks, his tone clearly made it sound like a command...again.

Out of sheer curiosity and hard-to-admit instinct, the girl complied, sliding forward while the boy turned to the sack, rummaging through the contents.

He then gave her the signal to lean down.

Subconciously, she did so before instantly, a pair of cold hands slid something in her hair. She instantly jolted up with a start. "A-A-Akashi-kun?!" She gaped, her golden irises reflecting bewilderment. Nevertheless, despite those few seconds, whatever was stuck in her hair was professionally done so, not even budging from her sudden movement.

"It's an ornament. A red one. You like red…right?" He asked with a subtle smirk.

She instantly flushed. Was he going to go on about the stalking again?! "For the last time Akashi-kun, I'm not stalking you, especially for such reasons!" Yet, as with Kuroko, she wasn't met with much of a response other than a clearly unconvinced, "hmm."

She sighed. This was getting nowhere. He clearly did not intend to believe anything else. Thus, since the ornament itself was a sign of her acceptance of such a label, she began to peel it off her ebony hair yet, once she did, she became dazed by its beautiful design.

Shades of red, light, dark, and a touch of maybe even electric crimson decorated a sole red rose, pump and almost too detailed to be called fake if not for a lining of gold dust scattered across the its bud.

From the corner of her peripheral, she saw a smirk creep up his lips.

She promptly dropped her hands behind her. "J-just because this looks nice doesn't mean that something's being implied!" She defended.

"Hmm."

Akakibana grimaced. Did her reputation lower even further? Realizing how futile her efforts were, she stared back at the ornament in lassitude, clearly dissatisfied when she noticed that the ornament…looked a bit too well-made to be a prize from a cultural festival.

"Um…Akashi-kun, where did you get this?" She asked.

"Ah, I received it after winning the grand prize in the shopping district this morning. But as you can see, it's a hair ornament so I don't have much use for it myself," Akashi nonchalantly explained.

Akakibana gaped at him incredulously. How much was this worth then?!

"What? Then no it's okay, I can't accept this," Akakibana frantically rambled as she handed it back to him.

He was as calm as usual. "I see…then I'll give it to Satsuki instead," he murmured, as if to him it was a disposable object. Yet, to a girl who barely knew him, she interpreted his words quite differently; especially the word "Satsuki".

It was definitely the first name of a girl meaning "May" or "azaleas" but hearing such a name pass through his lips surprised her. She never thought she'd hear him call a girl by first name.

"Y-yes! You should be give it to her instead!" She cried, purposely replacing "girlfriend" with "her" in case she was horribly wrong.

Yet, it was as if Akashi could read her mind. "No, I'll give it to you. Akakibana come over here," he ordered.

"E-eh no but I—"

"_Come._"

She flinched, acquiescently following. She wondered if he had this effect on everyone and once she recalled the blanching face of the Shogi club president, she had a feeling it was the truth.

Once she was within reach, in one swift motion, he got up from the chair and pushed her to it, efficiently swapping places.

Before she could spew out a word of complaint, those ice-cold fingertips contacted the edge of her cheek, allowing her to flinch at the refreshing touch as he began fixating the ornament back in her hair.

There was an unspoken silence as he did so, this time, actually wrapping a tuft of her hair around it as if to style it. He never said a word but somehow, she knew he didn't want her to move. Moreover, now that she thought about it, overall, Akashi was being eerily kind today.

_"But...isn't that enough?"_

She blinked. Now, Kuroko's words were dancing around her head. Yet, strangely enough, she felt as if his indecipherable words began clicking in place. What was enough? The fact that he didn't treat her as human?

But…this cold yet gentle touch wasn't something someone would give to a thing.

She felt his faint breath brush the tip of her head.

He released her grip.

"This is yours. Red still fits you better," he concluded, a hint of unexpected human kindness in his voice.

Her eyes widened.

Ah. So this was it. This was what wasn't enough.

Akashi Seijuro was amazing. Not only was he sharp, he was confident, capable, and unexpectedly, just a little bit kind.

However, to her, that wasn't enough—she wasn't good enough.

She really was like a grouchy child on Christmas.

Kuroko Tetsuya was right. Anyone would respect someone like him and in return, would be glad for him to look back at him or her. It was apparent, although slight with the Shogi club as well. She heard that no matter how many crushing defeats they faced against him, they'd always call him back and he…would always accept.

He accepted all challenges.

With her however, she had always been in a different position. From the start, he had looked at her because he defined her as "interesting".

Despite this obvious praise, she took it as an offense instead.

Why?

She let out a pained smile. Because…she wanted to be more than just another being to him.

For the first time, she realized her own greed.

Yet, she didn't despise herself for it.

"Akakibana?" A deep voice blurted from behind the duo.

The girl instantly whipped around, catching sight of Midorima along with a rather tall purple-haired giant that literally had to duck to walk in.

"Ah, Midorima-kun!" She greeted with an automatic bow.

"Oh Shintaro, you've come at the right time. I suddenly felt like going to the rooftop," Akashi mused from behind her.

"Hah? Oi, don't tell you me you're going to force another whim of yours on me," Midorima scowled while the giant lazily ambled forward, easily heaving up that huge sack over his shoulders.

"It shouldn't be much of a problem, considering all the whims I had to allow you with your lucky items and all," Akashi reminded, causing the male to cringe.

Winning an arguement against Akashi seemed to be futile as always. "Fine, let's go," Midorima huffed, sucking in his pride as the trio headed for the door.

Noticing that Akakibana never bothered to follow suit, he decided that Akashi must've done something…again.

He wasn't sure if he was right or wrong.

"Akakibana, make sure to lock up before you leave," he heard Akashi remind her before they headed down the corridor.

He thought he saw her nod.

Yet, despite working together with her for the duration of the school festival, he knew better than to meddle with Akashi's affairs.

The trio proceeded to the school rooftop where they then happened to meet up with Kuroko, Momoi, Aomine, and Kise who were all munching on yakisoba.

They greeted them with various levels of cheer before deciding to bunch their various assortments of snacks together and share.

Even Midorima had to admit that despite having to hear more of their annoying voices, he thoroughly had fun. In fact, with Momoi's coaxing, the day ended as the gang took a photo together, the afternoon sun streaming down their brightened faces, immortalizing their happiness and allowing the cultural festival to be dubbed as one of the most enjoyable experiences of their middle school lives.

No one back then would've expected them to break apart, like an all-too beautiful jigsaw puzzle that had its pieces ripped apart out of spite.

No one did.

But…it still happened.

Luckily, that was still far into the future. For now, they were just youth, deciding to spend their days filled with rainbow-colored skies.

Yet, amidst all this, they weren't the only ones who felt as if they gained something meaningful.

Back in the classroom, Akakibana Inori gazed out the window, appreciating the beautiful overlay of amber rushing through the windows.

She felt a gentle breeze uplift her hair as she stared at the scarlet sun.

A warm tingle lingered inside her. It had been a long time since she felt this way, a feeling of warmth towards someone else.

Yet, instead of smiling, she released a pained chuckle. "Ah…I can't believe Tomie-san was right."

Outside, the last traces of cherry blossoms fell.

It was the end of Spring-the end of new beginnings.

But to her, that was fine.

* * *

_"At that time, Spring began with a lot of misgivings, misfortune, and misunderstandings."_

_"In fact, I never even knew what you thought and felt,"_

_"everything was all based on my own misperception and judgement,"_

_"but, that's fine right?"_

_"Spring is the time of youth, a time riddled with mistakes-an incorrigable concept to you,"_

_"but, even so, I wonder if you still enjoyed it,"_

_"the year of our spring."_

_Spring- Track B_

_End._

* * *

**YESSSS I'm finally done this section! (I feel so accomplished!)**


	7. 夏：Lingering Affection

_"In summer, many things are different from spring."_

_"People mature,"_

_"and relationships change."_

_"But, it is undeniable, that summer,"_

_"is the time for fun."_

_Summer- Track A_

_Start._

* * *

**夏****: Lingering Affection**

In a flurry of passing days, June came. Along with June, came exam week.

Akakibana Inori wasn't bothered by that. Due to many pain-staking years of memorizing Shogi moves and patterns, Akakibana was proficient in the areas requiring memorization. She admitted she was a bit weak in Math and English…but, it was only fair.

However, a certain exam was incorrigible to her. In fact, she doubted she would ever understand its apparent effect in life. Yet, as of a beatific sunny day with leaves freshly greened, this was coming into question.

She blamed the effects of love.

"Ah~ It's that time of the year again—the PE fitness test~" Tomie sighed, leaning on the back of her chair, tilting it back and forth just enough to continue an equilibrium of stability on two legs. Akakibana only stared at her, slightly irritated since Tomie Yuu was not only someone with an almost irregular sense of balance but also quite the athlete in a variety of sports.

"Tomie-san please don't joke about that," Akakibana muttered spitefully.

"What? Just because our exam this time is on basketball and you know you can't shoot it in Nori-chan~?" Tomie teased in her ever-taunting manner.

The ebony-haired girl grimaced. Unlike her sports-oriented friend, she had no sense of coordination for any sport and basketball, out of all of them, was the toughest considering how you had to shoot the ball into a TINY (46cm in diameter) hoop. A soccer goal was more than 20x larger than that and she only managed to get it in 4/10 times at best.

Seeing her reaction, Tomie sighed. "Ah, Nori-chan, I can never tell if you're smart or not. You should be overjoyed! If you suck, you have an excuse for Akashi Seijuro to teach you!" She beamed.

"PFFFT" The ebony-haired girl choked. Slightly gagging on her own saliva as she carefully covered her mouth, she coughed out, "T-tomie-san!" What was she saying?!

"But it's true~ I mean, he's not the captain of a basketball team for nothing. Besides, it's been more than a month since you've realized your feelings for him and there's barely any progress at all!" The brunette sighed, a face leaning on her cheek in exasperation.

Akakibana flinched. That…certainly was true. After the school festival, she barely saw the red-head and only managed to have a match against him once per two weeks or more. It was slightly crushing to see him curtly leave right afterwards, allowing only a few words to be exchanged between the two.

Therefore, despite her denials, Akakibana admitted one thing: she wanted to see him.

[=]

Akakibana wondered why despite her relatively high grades, Tomie managed to rope her into something each time.

Yet, as Akakibana found herself inside the school gym, she could not say she hated her schemes, not when it brought her into another world.

The fast-paced and rhythmic bounce of the ball; the fierce squeaks of non-slip shoes on polished floor, rang through her ears.

As she ascended the stairway to the upper bleachers, Akakibana could only gape at the sight of a tanned male going up against the refreshingly handsome neighborhood blond: Kise Ryouta—just without the refreshing part. In fact, she almost ceased to recognize him. His expression was too intense for a refreshing model, brows knitted in concentration as he attempted to outwit his opponent.

Surprisingly however, that very expression was what nearly made her heart flutter—at the passionate energy emitted from the game.

Did basketball always seem this interesting?

"…Akakibana-san?" A voice beside her questioned.

Immediately, she jumped, whirling around in shock.

"K-K-Kuroko-kun!" She fumbled, already feeling chest pains from the shock. Why did she never notice his presence?!

Yet, the boy only blankly stared at her. "So it was you after all Akakibana-san," he calmly expressed. "Did you have any business here?"

The ivory haired girl cringed. That was the one thing she didn't want him to ask her! Yet, now that she could analyze the situation, to suit her purposes, it might've been better to tell Kuroko as she already made too many mistakes in front of him to cover whatever image she had left. Moreover, he was the one who helped her realize her feelings for the redhead and thus, he must've had an inkling about her feelings.

"U-um well Kuroko-kun. Actually, I wanted to know if the basketball club was busy today," she confessed with an almost extraordinary sense of calm. It was strange but, the more honest she was, the less flustered she became.

"No, today, we only have individual practice. Were you looking for Akashi-kun?" He insightfully asked, immediately causing the girl to cringe.

"Ngh! W-well yes." She muttered, finally starting to feel the heat rise. However, she did learn something from all those deeply embarrassing moments she experienced after meeting Akashi: tolerance. She promptly ignored it. "Because there's a final PE exam and I'm really bad at basketball so…"

"You wanted to ask him to help you?" Kuroko confirmed, completing her sentence.

She nodded. "That why Kuroko-kun you mus—"

"Akakibana?" A sharp clear-cut voice suddenly interrupted from behind the duo.

She didn't even have to turn to know who it was.

"Ah, good afternoon Akashi-kun," Kuroko greeted the teen with a bow, startling Akakibana with his horrifyingly calm composure.

"Oh, good afternoon Akashi-kun," Akakibana followed, parroting both his words and tone.

Unexpectedly, it worked, although with a few degrees more emotion than Kuroko.

"Yes. However, may I ask if you have any business here? Akakibana," the scarlet-haired boy asked or again, demanded in his ever-daunting tone.

She flinched, secretly wondering why she was even attracted to him. "W-well, I was wondering if I could watch and learn a bit of basketball today for the upcoming PE exam," she explained, only to receive a blank look from both basketball players.

"…Which means you want to use our facilities?" Akashi immediately inferred.

Somehow, the atmosphere felt incredibly tense. She bit her lip. His voice sounded cold. Was she disturbing him after all?

Slowly, she nodded.

"Ah, Akashi-kun, Akakibana-san was wondering if you could hel—"

Akakibana instantly whacked the bluenette's mouth with her hand, successfully managing to silence the boy who only gazed at her with a slight hint of surprise.

She grimaced, instantly receiving his silent message from his soul-wringing stare. But…she didn't care. If she was disturbing Akashi, he didn't have to know!

"U-um actually I came here because I wanted to ask K-kuroko-kun to teach me! You said he was Teiko's trump card right?" She exclaimed, voice too flustered and forced to sound sincere.

Yet, she didn't even give the red-head time to speak before she immediately dragged the bluenette down the bleachers. "W-well Akashi-kun, hopefully I won't disturb your practice so we'll be taking our leave now!" She hastily bowed, constantly feeling the immensely pressurizing stares from Kuroko that only seemed to say, _"Akakibana-san…" _in great disappointment.

He didn't have to say anything; she was disappointed herself.

She simply squeezed her eyes shut, blaming herself for believing in Tomie again.

Behind the retreating duo, Akashi Seijuro stayed silent.

Then…he smiled.

[=]

"…This, will be very troublesome," Kuroko murmured as a basketball was promptly thrown into the air, only to miss the hoop by at least a good 10cm…for the umpteenth time.

Staring at the hoop growing increasingly incensed, Akakibana sucked in a sharp breath before releasing a dejected sigh. "I'm sorry Kuroko-kun…I'm really bad aren't I?" She apologized.

She even went as far as to complete the setup by going to the deserted 4th gym to practice but…with her skills, it was no doubt she would cause trouble.

Secretly, she was glad Akashi didn't help her, she would've embarrassed herself further.

"Ah no, it's not that Akakibana-san," Kuroko denied. "It's just that, is this alright? You wanted Akashi-kun to help you didn't you?"

Her golden eyes blinked, startled by how considerate and courteous the boy was despite speaking in such a dead tone. Finally, for the duration of this completely painstaking period, she released a smile. "Thank you Kuroko-kun but, it's alright. My main objective is to score well on my finals so it doesn't have to be Akashi-kun. Besides, I heard you're Teiko's trump card!" She reassured brightly.

Suddenly, Kuroko uncharacteristically scratched the side of his cheek. "Actually, that's the other troublesome part…" he began, attempting to appear sheepish.

"Eh?"

He promptly picked up a ball and ran, immediately performing a lay-up to the nearest hoop—that he spontaneously missed.

She squinted. Wasn't that supposed to be the easiest of all moves?

Luckily, he filled in the blanks. "Um, I can't shoot."

"….What?!"

"Well you see, it's like this..." Kuroko began, explaining what was meant by the term "the phantom 6th man" which did not involve some kind of superpowered abilities (well it kinda did) but rather, the ability to stay "invisible" in a game.

She sweatdropped, though she may not play sports, something told her such a thing was even irregular in the sports world. But on the other hand, it seemed extremely fitting that Akashi would select him for the team.

It was definitely...interesting.

"Oh… I see now, so that's why..." she murmured, recalling all those irregularities she felt about him previously.

"Yes, exactly. I was wondering how the two of you would even begin," a clear-cut voice mused, causing the duo to turn.

Kuroko promptly greeted him. "Akashi-kun, it's rare of you to come here," he stated, azure meeting a deep scarlet framed by an equally wan face.

"Ah, Daiki left early again so I was hoping he'd come here. However, it doesn't seem to be the case." Akashi voiced, slightly narrowing his eyes.

Akakibana flinched. She had no clue who this "Daiki" was, but she was sure she saw a murderous glint for a moment.

Yet, the same could be said for Kuroko. At the mention of "Daiki", his already flat face noticeably darkened.

"…I see." He murmured with the slight furrow of brows. "Um, Akashi-kun, can you help her instead? Obviously I'm not going to be of much help and instead, if you have a message you wish to relay to Aomine-kun, I'll go look for him," Kuroko negotiated.

Akashi knew he simply wanted to check up on the teen. None could deny how Aomine Daiki began acting unusual for the past few days. He even had the guts to skip _twice_.

Akashi nodded. "Yes, I believe that is best."

Kuroko thanked him.

"But." Akashi suddenly added with a striking tone. "Please inform him of this: if he skips the game next week, _things,_ will happen." He stated, placing murderous emphasis on certain words.

"…Yes." Kuroko replied in a perfectly calm manner.

Only Akakibana seemed shocked—he just threatened someone!

[=]

"You truly lack talent."

"Eh?"

Before she even got to throw the ball in the hoop, she received such an assessment from Akashi Seijuro.

"Your form," he stated, "is extremely stiff. In fact…" he began as he strode towards her, visibly seeming as if he was going to perform the "heart-throbbing hand-touching close quarters learning technique" affectionately illustrated by Tomie where he would move her like a doll.

She immediately flushed red as she recalled Tomie's words.

A waft of wind stung her arm. She flinched, eyes squeezed shut yet…that cooling touch of his she felt at the festival never came.

"Listen well Akakibana. I do not like repeating myself," she heard him say as her eyes fluttered open, meeting his noticeably toned arms while he sported a white T-shirt.

She nearly choked. He wasn't that much taller than Kuroko so how?!

"Akakibana?" He suddenly questioned, noticing her diverted attention.

"U-um yes, please begin!" She fumbled.

He promptly outstretched his right arm, rolling his fingers. "Akakibana, you judge distance with your fingertips and, to shoot, you must follow this position." He instructed, promptly clutching an imaginary ball before a smoothly executed release. There wasn't a ball but, she swore she saw one.

"Okay, like this?" She asked, concentrating as she moved accordingly.

"Arms down 20 degrees more."

She nodded.

"Too stiff, allow your arms to relax before release."

She did so, not once questioning the high demand for precision like she normally would've done. Despite his cold and even tone, he was still helping her and doing so without any sloppy effort. Even though she knew she was troubling him, he never even showed a hint of complaint so how could she?

As she threw the ball after many failed attempts, she could only think of one thing, _"Akashi Seijuro…was amazing."_

The ball slid in perfectly.

"A-akashi-kun!" She turned with an excited smile, expecting to see her excitement reciprocated.

Unfortunately, she only met his ever-daunting gaze.

"Yes, it seems you've finally managed," Akashi noted, turning to the hoop. "However, we still have a long way to go if this is your current level."

She cringed. Well, that was true but…she couldn't help but feel disappointed. "B-but did I at least improve with that one?" She asked, unsure of why she was saying such things.

"That's hard to define as luck might've also played a part," Akashi voiced.

She flinched.

"But…if you get 5 in a row Akakibana, I'd say you have that down." He mused.

She immediately jolted up with determination. "Is that true Akashi-kun?!" She cried, voice louder than usual.

A hint of surprise passed his face before ever so slightly, his expression _softened—_Unless, she imagined it of course. "Yes."

"Then please watch me."

[=]

It was strange.

When she played Shogi with Akashi, there was this constant sense of pressure that dampened the mood for possible conversation.

She was terrified of making mistakes. Yet, with basketball, no matter how many misses she had, Akashi never said a word. Perhaps he did feel as if it was a waste of time and though she would easily become depressed at those thoughts, whenever she turned back, she would always meet his figure, watching her full-heartedly.

Like that, with a smile, she would send another basketball swishing in.

Eventually, she reached her quota.

"Akashi-kun! That's 5 in a row correct?" She exclaimed, turning to meet the red-head—who briefly allowed a content smile to pass his expression.

She blinked. Wasn't that…the smile he gave when spoke about Kuroko?!

Immediately however, it reverted to normal.

"Yes. Well done, Akakibana." He praised before finally, she felt that cooling touch once more. It was only on her ivory black hair as he faintly gave it a slight pat yet, already, she was refreshed by it.

"…Ngh? Aka-chin?" A voice called from behind.

Akakibana turned…to meet a huge giant. It was the one from the school festival!

"Ah, Atsushi." The red-head acknowledged calmly.

"So there you were but…who's that beside you?" "Atsushi" asked, eyeing the black-haired girl in lassitude.

"Ah, I-I'm Akakibana Inori," she politely bowed, surprised that he was giving her the time of day despite the way he ignored her presence during the festival.

"Ngh? Aka? Oh!" His wisteria eyes widened in recognition. "Mido-chin's class' Aka-chin!" He exclaimed, recalling the day the Midorima was called over by the other "Aka-chin" instead of their brief meeting during the school festival.

She only recalled the latter, thus, confusedly released an, "Aka-chin?"

"Ah, that. Well, this is Murasakibara Atsushi and recently, he's developed the habit of adding "chin" to the names of others." Akashi flatly explained.

She nodded, feigning comprehension.

"Oh but, what do I do? There are two Aka-chin's now," Murasakibara mused.

She blinked. "E-eh? No it's fine. Please just call me Akakibana," she phrased.

"..Akaki—no, it's too long," Murasakibara hastily denied.

She gaped at him. No, no, she was sure his own name was much longer!

"No it's simply A-ka-ki-ba-na,"

"…Akana-chin,"

"No, A-ka-ki-ba-na,"

"…Akana-chin,"

She twitched. Despite his languid demeanor, she swore he was doing this on purpose.

"No, there's a 'ki-ba' in between."

"Ah, oh I see." Murasakibara finally declared.

She brightened up. Yes, she'll have a normal name!

"Kiba-chin should be fine." The wisteria-haired giant decided.

…She needed a wall to smack into. STAT.

"E-eh?" she whispered, shocked how he went for the two most inconspicuous syllables of her name. No one would know who he was talking about then! That destroyed the purpose of a nickname if it wasn't even somewhat recognizable!

"Um it's Akak—"

The giant promptly frowned.

She promptly jolted. With him looming high above her, his long locks of purple that half hid his eyes suddenly seemed menacing.

"Kiba-chin."

"Y-yes?!" She squeaked.

He placed a hand on her head, gripping it.

"Kiba-chin, right?" He confirmed.

She shivered. "K-kiba-chin it is."

He released a content smile. "Mnn!"

"Atsushi, are you done now?" A voice that had been long absent finally demanded as the two turned, noticing that Akashi Seijuro was already by the door.

"Oh, yeah." Murasakibara nodded.

"Then let's go." He declared as the purple giant readily agreed.

Akakibana stared at the sight.

Again, people were following him as if it was simply natural.

When Murasakibara finally reached the door however, she caught Akashi give her a passing glance. "Akakibana. There's a court open tomorrow, do you intend on practicing as well?" He asked.

She blinked. Wait, was he inviting her to go?

"Y-yes!" She blurted and received…a smile.

"Good."

That was the only word he left her with yet, somehow, she felt incredibly warm. Tomie was right. She was hopelessly in love and, judging by his calm demeanor, it was the most painful type: the unrequited type.

She may have been right.

He wasn't there the next time she came. She simply tossed in ball after ball alone, sometimes receiving strange stares from a passing Midorima. But, she wasn't disappointed. That was the way things should've been.

She received more than enough from someone like Akashi.

She simply shot and shot…because even without him there, she could feel his presence.

His commanding yet soothing tone, his sharp easy to understand words, and the aura he sported every time. Unless she developed schizophrenia, it felt as if he was actually there, making basketball fun for her.

Why did she like Akashi? It was simple.

He was daunting, and sometimes threatening, that sly smirk giving anyone shivers. But, he was whole-hearted in everything he did. She liked that about him, she liked the underlying kindness behind two mismatched traits. He hurt her with his straight-forward attitude many times but that to her, was his kindness.

He let her know the things she needed to know. Without prejudice, and whole-heartedly done.

He was probably the same to the Generation of Miracles.

It was bittersweet...this kind of love.

[=]

She passed the exams with flying colors though again, still lost to Tomie despite her efforts.

With a winning smile, Tomie haughtily tossed her exam mark towards the girl.

In retaliation, she allowed her to pale by presenting her academic 5s (marking system of Japan. Equivalent to As).

It was a duel between both sides...ending in laughter.

"But Nori-chan, aren't you glad I got you to go?" Tomie voiced during their usual outing on the roof.

Akakibana took one glance at her sparkling honey brown eyes, sighing in defeat. "Fine Tomie-san, I was but...at first, it was still beyond embarrassing," she emphasized, shooting the girl with all her discontent.

Tomie didn't seem fazed at all. "Ehhh? But that's fine. You know the saying, 'the ends justifies the means!'" She brightly exclaimed.

"ANd that's... how psychopaths are made," Akakibana immediately interjected.

Tomie frowned. "Really now...even though I'm pretty sure your potential boyfriend follows exactly that?" She murmured, voice so soft that Akakibana couldn't catch her last words.

"Eh?"

"Nope, it's nothing~" Tomie grinned. "But now, a new problem has been presented to our poor protagonist who walks down the path of a thorny one-sided love," Tomie lamented dramatically.

Akakibana raised a brow, wondering why she knew this girl again.

"And that, is summer vacation! What are you going to do? Two months is a long time and if you don't see him, things can change-fast!" The brunette exclaimed, mimicking wind.

Akakibana only blinked. "Eh? Am I supposed to do something?"

Now it was her friend's turn to gape.

"Aren't you?!"

"No? I mean, I'm not close enough with him in the first place. Besides, you're just saying this to find a chance to tease me aren't you?" Akakibana scowled, finally hitting the nail on the head.

Sheepish laughter ensued.

Akakibana promptly scowled at her friend. Yet, she couldn't deny that she might miss him. Tomie was right, two months was a long time but, then again, her feelings were probably unrequited.

There was no point in dwelling on things like that; she didn't have the confidence to.

With a smile, she simply held on tight to the bountiful warmth she felt bubble within her.

Summer was a good time...to forget.

She already experienced enough joy over the past few months, it would be wrong of her to ask for more.

And thus, Akakibana Inori's summer began, attempting the appreciation then dissolution of her feelings.

As for Akashi Seijuro, summer began... with an arsenal of training camps from hell.

The wails of basketball players echoed down the halls.

To the girl amidst her peaceful reverie however, their screams were ignored.

Yet, she might've let her guard down a tad too much.

If there was one thing that remained consistent in her life, it was simply: nothing went well for her. _Ever._

She was expecting too much of fate to simply let her go on her merry way.

Not when summer, was the time, for _fun._


	8. 夏: A Burst, an End, a Firework

**夏: A Burst, an End; a Firework**

Under the blazing hot days of July, the people were given refreshing relief as dusk fell, a cool breeze whistling past the summer greens. Suddenly, along with the curtain of dusk, the blaze of lantern flames ignited one by one down the streets, followed by incessant chattering amongst the resonant clacking of clogged feet.

It was time for the annual festival, a day of joy and relaxation for the citizens yet already, for Akakibana Inori, fun was long gone.

She was clad in a crimson yukata covered in golden blooms, perfectly matching the scarlet rose sprinkled with gold adorned in her pinned-up ebony hair. She was finally dolled up for once, and this time, out of her own free will. Yet, as she stared at the screen of her black cellular, she could only release a disappointed sigh.

_Tomie Yuu: Sorry Nori-chan! Some things cropped up so I can't come anymore DX I am so sorry! (TTATT) _

This didn't bode well for the girl who was now at a festival-alone. Moreover, by "some things", she was sure it had something to do with Tomie's boyfriend whom, though she had never met, she spitefully loathes to a great degree as many of the times they planned outings, Tomie had to cancel due to his mercurial demands.

Tomie seemed fine with it though, saying that in a sense, he was actually similar to Akakibana's "current pursuit" and was "kind at heart". Akakibana wanted to gag at the comparison of the jerk to Akashi. She could only respond to the "current pursuit" bit as otherwise, she would definitely hurt her sole friend's feelings.

Pocketing her phone in her obi, she began to head towards the stalls. In her garb, she definitely wouldn't make it home before her mother came for her. Besides, an acquaintance of hers invited her to a Shogi tournament at the festival. Having nothing to do, she might as well participate.

Yet, only after a few moments of ambling, did she come across a verdant teen by the shooting range, aiming for a stuffed tiger with a fish in mouth. She sweatdropped, now understanding his hobbies well enough to know that it was another "lucky item" he wanted in his collection.

*Bam!* *Bam!*

She blinked, surprised that the despite the title of, "the ace shooter" of the basketball team, he spontaneously missed.

His brows immediately twitched in irritation as he loaded the gun, about to shoot once more before a hand grabbed his monochrome stripe-patterned sleeve.

"Wait M-midorima-kun!"

He turned, the golden-eyed girl finally registering in his sight. He raised a brow. "Akakibana?"

Yet, instead of giving him another polite bow that would lead to moments of awkward silence, there was a foreign flicker in her eyes as she exclaimed, "c-could I give this a try?"

Midorima narrowed his eyes. "Hah? Why do I have t-"

Immediately, the gun was snatched from his hands as Akakibana loaded it, pointing to the side of a pop can that stood beside the stuffie.

*Bam!*

She shot, the pellet charging at the can before rebounding off the side, tipping off the head of the tiger as it plummeted to the right, knocking into a stuffed doll in a red dress as both items fell off the rack.

Midorima promptly found a stuffed tiger in his arms.

"Thank you Midorima-kun!" She bowed, clutching the doll tight in her arms.

He immediately scowled. "Akakibana, what did you do?" He demanded, startling her with his hostility.

"E-eh?" She blurted, immediately realizing what she had done. "Oh I'm so sorry! You probably wanted to do it yourself right...?" She hesitantly muttered in apology.

Midorima simply scowled. "No, not about that!" He cried. "I meant your shooting. How can someone who had to spend a week practicing hoop-shooting for a week manage to win?!" He demanded, not all bothered by how offensive his words may have sounded.

Akakibana flinched, recalling how on the second day, Midorima even came to help her with her shooting training when the problem ended up being that the moment she stopped for a while, she would completely lose all the experience she gained.

"W-well u-um..."

"That's because those two things are slightly different Shintarou." A pristine and velvety voice answered.

The girl's heart stopped.

She didn't have to turn to know who it was. Yet, she subconsciously did so anyways, a thick mat of scarlet illuminating her vision.

"Akashi?" Midorima half-greeted while Akakibana swiftly bowed to him in acknowledgement, unable to form words.

"Good evening Shintarou, Akakibana. It's quite rare to find the two of you together." Akashi mused.

Akakibana blinked.

"W-we're not together! We just happened to come across each other!" She immediately cried, startling Midorima.

"Hah? Of course we're together; why else would we be standing right next to each other? Besides you've yet to answer my question." Midorima demanded as she turned to him, mentally facepalming.

Did he really not know of the connotations behind his lines?

Her golden eyes hesitantly darted to Akashi, afraid of him misunderstanding before she caught herself. Wait, didn't she tell herself to forget?

It was impossible for him to like her in the fiirst place! She silently took a deep breath, ready to wear a mask of calm before he then said, "ah. I believe it's because unlike basketball, shooting relies more on strategic position than control as unlike with basketball, no matter what amount of force you apply to the trigger, the bullet will still release the same way."...completing ignoring her words.

She felt slightly disappointed. She didn't know why.

"I see. Strategic positioning..." Midorima murmured, silently contemplating something.

Akakibana inwardly sighed. "Well then um...what brings you here Akashi-kun?" She asked, changing the topic.

"Ah, an acquaintance invited me to a Shogi tournament here tonight." He explained. "Are you attending as well Akakibana?"

Yet, he didn't receive an answer.

All he received was the same blank look in her eyes—from when she first met him.

His scarlet orbs narrowed.

An unnatural pause lingered in the air—almost.

Just as it had turned to unnerving silence, Akakibana suddenly squeaked, "E-eh? N-no!" quite loudly as eyes of scarlet and viridian settled on her questioningly.

"T-today I'm only here to enjoy the festival and besides, I'll be meeting a friend during the time of the competition so it's unfortunate but I'm unable to." She sheepishly explained, voice layered with astounding fluidity.

Akashi narrowed his eyes. "Hmm...I see. Is that so? Well that is a shame." He murmured, turning away from the duo before Akakibana finally registered his bold white kimono with golden dragons rising on the side.

She gaped. Being forced into traditional garb for tournaments, she knew well that only the most daring and regal would wear that kind and moreover...it suited him. SO WELL!

She ground her lips together in attempt stop marvelling at his figure.

"Akashi? Are you're leaving?" Midorima asked, being to the first to notice he was actually retreating.

The red-head turned, scarlet eyes tinted with the gold of the lantern lights. "Yes. It's time for the tournament. Well then, Shintarou, Akakibana," He hinted, giving the two a lilting nod before disappearing into the crowd.

The ebony-haired girl only stared expressionlessly at his faint silhouette.

She no longer needed to bite her lip. Any traces of a smile had vanished.

Surprisingly, Midorima actually captured her smile-morphed-somber expression.

"Akakibana?" He frowned, unsure why his classmate was acting so bi-polar.

She was bi-polar indeed. Immediately, she gave him a polite bow. "Well Midorima-kun. If it's that time already, I'm going to take my leave as well. Have a good evening!" She beamed before slipping into the bustling crowd.

"Hah? Oi!"

She never turned around. Soon, she was gone.

Midorima only stood there...before returning to his horoscope hunt. He planned use her as a reference when he went sharp-shooting in the next stall but, he had a nagging feeling that getting involved would cause him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Although again, he had a nagging feeling he would be involved...anyways.

[=]

The world was filled with lies.

Staring lividly at the pink fluff ball Tomie had once introduced to her as cotton candy, Akakibana Inori inwardly sighed as she took another bite out of the atrocity, savoring its saccharine taste before another bit promptly stuck itself to the side of her mouth.

Her mood considerably darkened.

Yes, she ran from her only chance at human interaction albeit, with the being that seemed to loathe every foundation of it but nevertheless, she was now alone and again...NOT enjoying even a bit of the festival.

Even though...she managed to meet Akashi...ah!

She immediately stopped herself. No, she was not going to go through this again. She was not going to succumb to becoming a hopeless romantic when her love itself was already hopeless.

That wasn't the right way to go. It wasn't logical. She was supposed to be the best at being logical...well, at least in Shogi.

Yet, then again, since she met Akashi, she realized she long stopped making logical decisions. From the moment of the interview, she probably already dug her own grave.

At her pessimistic thoughts, the girl grew sullen,heaving out a dark sigh-before her cotton candy collided with the side of her hair.

"Ah!" She cried, immediately stepping back which of course, was a bad move when wearing clogs as she perpetually lost her balance, losing to gravity-or not.

A hand had caught her from the fall as a swarthy face, rivaling that of the night with a streak of navy hair filling her vision.

His skin color instantly gave him away.

"...An African-American?"

"LIKE HELL!"

Immediately she was thrown back to her feet, still startled from the shock as she now registered a scowling Japanese teen her age with unusually dark skin, clad in a navy yukata with sleeves wrapped up by tasuki, revealing arms defined with ripples of muscle.

She couldn't help but catch that. After seeing Akashi in his sports garb, revealing both his toned arms and legs, she just... couldn't help it...although noticing the cotton candy wisps that had latched onto his mouth and then peeled down while latching onto his torso promptly took away from the sight.

"Um...your yukata..." Akakibana voiced.

The teen stared at the yukata in irritation. "Oii...are you serious?" He scowled. "Tch. Satsuki's definitely going to kill me for ruining this." He inwardly sighed with a clearly distasteful look as he attempted to at least wipe the substance from his mouth before the moisture from the previous contact only helped him smear condensed bits of sugar.

Akakibana stared, unusually pausing before her apologies. There it was again, this "Satsuki" person. Was he referring to his own girlfriend or was it the same person Akashi once spoke of...in fact, wait, she recalled seeing a tanned male playing against Kise Ryouta once.

Wasn't he also on the team? What was his name again?

She squinted. She swore it began with a color...a-Ao(blue)?

"Ah! Ao...Aokise!" She cried, blurting the first word that came to mind.

"Hah?" the teen returned, not quite catching her words as a squint etched into his features.

She immediately blushed from the connotations. No wait, no wait! Like that could've been it! She inwardly scowled, cursing Tomie and all the influences the girl had brought with her. She swore her mind was polluted now!

"A-a-ah! No not Aok-I mean, um what was your name again? I believe I saw you before with Teiko's basketball team!" Akakibana exclaimed, trying to cover up her blunder.

The male eyed her strangely. "...Aomine Daiki. Are you from Teiko?"

"Yes. Wait but...Aomine Daiki...oh, then are you the 'Aomine-kun' Kuroko-kun mentioned?" She pondered as the pieces slowly began to stick.

Aomine looked surprised at that. "Really? Tetsu mentioned me? Actually, you know him?"

"E-eh yeah, Kuroko-kun's helped me out a lot," she expressed.

"Heh...Well, if you're close to Tetsu you can't be too bad," he murmured, clearly stating his impression of her.

Well, she was acting uncharacteristically rude but even so, his words slightly surprised her.

"Eh? Just because I know Kuroko-kun?" She asked.

"Hmm? Of course, I mean, it's Tetsu. I'm pretty sure people he didn't bothering knowing would know he existed." Aomine pointed out, emphasizing his shadowy presence.

She choked. That sounded kind of rude but, seeing how that was her general impression of him, she couldn't say a thing in retort.

"Ah but, don't get me wrong. Tetsu's still amazing." Aomine added as the girl widened her eyes, noticing an actual smile on his face. "Even if he's totally invisible, during a match, no one can beat that." The male inwardly snickered.

"No I completely understand! I only heard about that but that definitely is amazing, to turn a weakness into such an advantage!" She quipped, words completely sincere.

The male beamed. "Right? As expected of my partner. Tetsu's amazing!"

She blinked, startled by his expression. Wow, Kuroko was amazing. He was invisible, was plain, and silent yet, not only was he able to turn things to his advantage but to also make friends like Aomine, no...the rest of the beings dubbed the "Generation of Miracles".

Wow.

She thought they were similar but he was much stronger than her.

"Well, now that that's over, let's go to the water tap by the pond." Aomine suddenly offered, pointing to the shadowy woods with only a single lamplight signalling where the pond stood.

"Eh? Why?" She hesitantly released, insightful enough to know not to go to dark places at night.

"Hah? Well you didn't notice...?" He murmured as he closed in on her, hand reaching for her hair.

She flinched. "E-eh? Aomine-kun...?" She gaped in confusion once she felt a hand grab onto her bun, sliding something out before she winced in pain.

Ouch, was there a split end?

Yet once she opened her eyes, the truth was confirmed.

"Here. Your hairpin's kinda like this now." Aomine presented, showing her the hairpin Akashi once gave her.

She blinked.

It was now covered with a sticky pink substance. Its petals amassed with muck. Yet, it was too thick to be from cotton candy in fact it looked more like...

"Ah, when we bumped into each other, I was kinda eating bubblegum at the time." Aomine filled in, tone barely apologetic.

Regardless, she wasn't Momoi who happened to know all about his upbringing enough to understand it was futile to yell at him. Actually scratch that. Even if she was Momoi, she would still be yelling "AOMINE-KUN!" at the top of her lungs.

It was a present from Akashi.

That itself made it irreplaceable.

[=]

It didn't take long for Aomine to ditch her at the pond.

At first, he was helping her get the gum off the hairpin without ruining it too badly but then, the two caught sight of some strange men with tattoos on their arms. Immediately Aomine had dropped what he was doing, murmuring something like, "...huh, it's those guys that were following Satsuki..." Before something clicked inside him. Something actually stemming from logic. Or well, intuition was close enough.

Akakibana only managed to release an "eh?" before his change of pace made him disappear off into the wind. She could only wonder if "the Generation of Miracles" were actually a bunch of ninjas. Seriously.

She removed herself from crouching position but, she realized her legs were numb. Fighting that tingling feeling that crawled up her senses, she wormed her way back up—only to lose balance at the last moment.

In a horrible attempt at equilibrium, desperate to not get her kimono dirty, she forgot something even more important.

The hairpin flew out of her hands—into the pond.

She gaped.

She instantly ran to the edge, outstretching her hands as far as possible at the plump gold-dusted rose that kept the pin afloat.

It was promptly blown further away by the wind.

Now from experience, Akakibana Inori knew she wasn't very strong.

She wasn't like Murasakibara with huge physical strength or like the relatively-around-her-height Kuroko with his impermeable mental strength. In a case where her only gift from Akashi was floating farther out into middle of the pond, she didn't know what to do.

It wasn't like Shogi or strategic shooting. This required application into the physical world. She couldn't just place things anywhere she wanted.

She couldn't move a piece to retrieve it.

It was so important but...she couldn't do a thing.

Something hot and salty stained her lips.

She noticed she was crying.

She bit her lip. Hard. She told herself to stop it. Immediately.

Yet, she was such a hypocrite.

The tears only came tumbling down.

What was she supposed to do with herself?

Why wasn't she strong?

"...Akakibana?"

The words cut through her anguish immediately.

Subconsciously, she went for the sleeve of her kimono, immediately smothering the tears as she perked up, gaze slowly falling incredulously at a scarlet-eyed boy with long spiked yet neatly coiffed hair.

"A-akashi-kun?" She breathed almost in disbelief, as if she finally fell far enough to hallucinate.

Akashi Seijuro was real, and he didn't miss the grief on her face. However, he never bothered to ask about it.

Instead, his sharp eyes fell on the hairpin floating out, instantly piecing together the situation.

"Akakibana." He commanded, voice sharp and daunting.

"Y-yes?!" Akakibana blubbered, automatically responding. Why was her hallucinatory Akashi so scary?!

"Stay there by the edge understood?" He instructed, pointing to the place not far from where she crouched.

She blinked, unsure of where he was heading but still followed like a hypnotized sheep.

He turned, staring at the gravel beneath his feet before he immediately went for a stone on the ground and moved to the other side.

Her eyes followed the red of his hair, the only thing she could make out in the thin moonlight.

BAM!

Immediately, the noise was heard as the splashing of stone on water shot through the air, pushing the rose back with its formulated ripples before then knocking the ornament out of the pond—into the air.

It fell towards her, she immediately reaching for it as the ornament snugly landed in her hands.

It was okay. She had carefully cleaned the gum off. It's shape, although a bit sagged from the water, stayed perfectly intact. High-end products were not meant to be underestimated but...she didn't care. Even if it was cheaply manufactured. It was okay.

She squeezed her eyes shut in relief, a new feeling taking over her senses.

It was that never-before felt warmth.

It was the feeling of love.

And it was overflowing.

This happened before.

She would be sad, she would cry, beat herself up for crying, and nothing would change.

Yet, since meeting him, starting from the broken tape recorder, everything changed.

The consecutively losing Shogi matches, the embarrassing moments of being labelled a stalker, Midorima, and Kuroko, all these events and meetings made her stronger and every time sadness enveloped her, he was there.

He would be ice cold, face expressionless.

Yet, every single time, with uncanny kindness, he would help her, even if it was done without a single shred of emotion.

She knew...he didn't like her.

It couldn't have been more obvious.

But...the feelings were overflowing.

The cup had been spilled.

"Akakibana? Are you okay?" The all-too familiar velvety voice asked.

She remained in a daze, the voice barely reaching her as she uttered, "Ah...I love Akashi-kun...I really really do love Akashi-kun."

They weren't words of happiness however, but of lingering sadness. A tear slid down her cheek.

Liking someone like Akashi would get her nowhere. It was the same as liking a brick wall.

Cold, unrequited, and red.

Perfect.

The only thing she didn't account for was that hallucinatory Akashi was very hallucinatory, to the point where he somehow managed to appear beside her despite the limited time frame.

He expressionlessly stared back at her. Like a brick wall.

Her jaw dropped to the point of cracking.

"N-no th-that that was-"

"So?"

The sound of his voice immediately shut her up. That, and his monosyllabic word.

"Eh?" What did he mean by "so?".

"Am I supposed to be requested to go out with you or of the like?" He tonelessly questioned, shocking her.

"H-huh?" A lump had formed in her throat. It was summer yet, somehow she felt chilled—like the day she first met him. "U-um w-well of course not but..." she trailed off, now uncomfortable. She didn't know what to say in fact, what was he saying? It was as if...

"Then I don't understand why you said that. A romantic relationship simply isn't viable as frankly, it is a waste of time."

Ah. She was right. He didn't care even a bit about love. About her feelings.

Yet, for once in her hypocritical life, she didn't back down. "Eh? How is romance a waste of time?" She slowly asked back as suddenly, she was reminded of something from before.

He didn't care about romance. Most guys didn't yet...to her, there seemed to be an underlying meaning behind that. He was looking at her with those eyes again—those eyes as if he was looking through a different lens—a scarlet one.

It was almost as if, he didn't believe in the meaning of "love" itself. The meaning behind true human interaction.

"It is. I see no point wasting time with couple-related activities where each party gushes at the other." He stated coldly.

She made a strangled sound. Okay, considering that it was her own opinion of it until she blurted it out to him, she had already lost the debate.

It was true. She didn't see a point in that either!

"B-but...that's not the point of romance. Not at all!" She randomly blurted with almost near-sincere conviction in her voice.

He stared at, suddenly amused. "Hmm? Would you care to explain why I should begin a romantic relationship with you then?"

She immediately choked at the implication. WHAT?! WAIT DID SHE ACTUA—She blushed. HARD. Her face blew up like a red balloon.

HOW THE HECK DID HER CONFESSION TURN INTO A PLEA TO GET HIM TO DATE HER?!

Was this the usual turn of events?! Was this how Tomie got her current boyfriend?!

No, even if it was, this was embarrassing, way too embarrassing!

What was she even doing?!

Yet, with Akashi looking anticipative at her with a slight hint of impatience, she knew she couldn't back out now. She would be even more embarrassed then!

"U-um that's because..." she murmured, eyes scanning around for something to say—before a flashback of that smile she saw in the Shogi room resurfaced in her mind.

Ah.

"B-because, you looked as if you thought being alone was better! As if you wanted to challenge yourself through that! T-that's why, you definitely should go o—I mean accept, because by what you've said, you haven't yet experienced a true relationship if you only experienced teamwork with teammates!" She heaved out in a ridiculously long breath.

There was a pause in the air. A painfully long one as Akashi stared at her, eyes unreadable.

A strangled feeling crawled up her throat. She gulped.

Why wasn't he responding?

Then, a gust of wind blew by, allowing the hairpin in her hands to flutter with its breeze.

Suddenly, the pond turned into a magical place. With its waters ebbing and flowing under the moonlight, wind bringing about ripples, Akakibana felt as if she was somewhere far far away as the distant lights of the festival burnt an amber glow.

It was a magical place for the two of them, without the disturbance of others, the day she might finally hear Akashi's answers yet...there was still this accursed disturbance called ridiculously good reception.

At one of the most pivotal moments of her life, the dull ring of a cellphone pierced through the mood she set, right before his lips parted to speak. Considering how it was Akashi, she doubted he would ignore it and...unfortunately, she was right.

"Yes?" A spitefully calm voice glibbed into the speaker.

Immediately, Akakibana felt an urge to whack the accursed thing out of his hands. What could be more important than hearing his reply? Akashi parted his lips. "...What? Tetsuya and Satsuki are being interrogated by the police?"

"Pfft!" The girl choked, finally gagging on her saliva as Akashi raised a brow at her. She winced between coughs. Okay...nevermind, that was definitely more important but...what in the world?!

"Tetsuya and Satsuki can handle it themselves but yes I'll come. You're at the station left of Yukimatsu Park correct?" Akashi sighed, not exactly concerned despite the horrible connotations.

Akashi promptly hung up afterwards.

Akakibana had lost all hope by then.

She wasn't wrong to do so.

"I suppose we'll have to resume this sometime later."

"Y-yes...that's probably a good idea. Hopefully...Kuroko-kun will be alright."

He gave her a curt nod, exactly as he had done so when she was obliterated by him back in spring.

It was almost a signal that they had returned...to being strangers again.

He sent her a wordless goodbye.

He left.

* * *

**Yeah...I promised fluff but this ended pretty much in angst didn't it? /shot/**

**oh and a note. This is completely based on the replace novel's summer festival where basically, momoi was ditched by aomine and met up with kuroko instead. If you're confused as to why the two ended up in the police station, i dont want to spoil it in case you read the translations of it online so im not going to say anything out of fear of being a total spoiler.**


	9. 夏: Satsuki

**EDITED : So umm, i hate it when I type out stuff in one go without editing because in the end, there is ALWAYS room for regrets orz.**

**BUT. OMG TODAY IS AKAKURO DAYYY I'M SUCH A TRAITOR SUCH A TRAITOR /sobs/ **

* * *

**Although I wasn't able to respond to much of the reviews thank you very much for taking the time to do so!**

**Now that I'm back from Japan however, I'll definitely reply to every this time so thank you again for the support!**

**Marriage Interview: Where two people basically look at a profile of each other and then go on a "trial date". Kinda like online dating**

* * *

**夏: "Satsuki"**

Despite having a lack of socializing expertise, Akakibana Inori still had a fairly good notion of what true friendship would look like and last time she checked, that did not include laughing at a friend's failed love confession.

"Ahaha! Wait up Nori-chan! Don't be like this!" Tomie Yuu cried, bounding after an increasingly bitter ebony-haired girl with a visible sign of glee.

Havent you said enough already Tomie-san?" Akakibana bitterly huffed, cheeks tinged red as she slightly turned, revealing a collared white sleeveless top lined with ruffles, a swiveling red skirt that revealed her black half leggings, and clacking red flats.

Contrasting her neat appearance however, she did not look calm...at all.

"Sorry, sorry! But your confession was just so awkward! Daring but...ahh, just thinking about it makes me laugh!" Tomie inconsiderately reminded for the umpteenth time.

Akakibana released a scowl.

Tomie beamed. "Okay, okay! I'll stop. But, Nori-chan, right now you're anxious that he won't speak to you anymore right?" The brunette assessed, plopping down on a nearby bench, basking in the shade of a tree.

Akakibana begrudgingly joined her, replying with a mere nod.

""Hmm...but I actually don't think that will happen. He did approach you first right? Besides, that kind of confession is bound to sound very amus-"

Akakibana narrowed her eyes.

"Er interesting and since he's always been saying how you're interesting, I doubt that he would. Plus, you were interrupted right? That meant he still had something to say!" Tomie explained judiciously, startling her friend with her thoughtfulness.

Really...she was startled...that Tomie didn't live up to her meager expectations of a friend at all.

"Um...Tomie-san, it's great that you're being thoughtful but shouldn't you have at least added that it's fine because I have redeeming qualities?"

Tomie froze...before she beamed. "But you do! The fact that you're a stalker is already very interesting!"

A pair of golden irises flew wide. Immediately. "STOP USING THAT AGAINST ME ALREADY!" She cried, face beet red.

That was a total misunderstanding! COMPLETELY.

"Hehe, make me~" Tomie teased as she loped off, Akakibana scowling yet following her like a moth to flame.

The duo scoured the streets of the city or rather, Akakibana was getting teased and dragged off to various different places as she, with a foreign voice cried louder than she would yet, laughed louder than she would.

The case of Akashi Seijuro wasn't solved. It was far from it. But, now that she met with Tomie, a smile was finally able to light up her features. She finally found peace since the incident.

The only problem was, while the two had calmed and Tomie went to buy ice cream, Akakibana caught that familiar whiff of red- of scarlet.

It was Akashi Seijuro, seated within a high-class cafe, its glass walls the only thing separating the two as Akakibana subconsciously maneuvered forward, the taboo words dancing on her lips.

Her hand moved to the glass. Her eyes were wide with shock.

No way...it was really him...why?

What were the odds that she would see him again?

"Akashi-k woahhh!"

Immediately she was seized by the wrist and flung to the side, back slightly knocking to the cement of the side building's walls.

"Phew, that was close. Oi, you never told me you knew Akashi too." A questioning voice asked as the golden-eyed girl's vision finally cleared, meeting a dark blue sleeveless Tee that dauntingly stood before her.

"A-aomine-kun?"She squinted, recognizing the dark blue-haired male towering above her.

"Good afternoon Akakibana-san," a familiar voice greeted from behind her as she whirled around, meeting a pair of circular azure orbs.

"K-kuroko-kun too?! What are you two doing here?" She cried, staring at the phantom player who sported a pair of beige khakis and white polo shirt.

"That should be my question to you. Do you know how much trouble you could have caused us if Akashi spotted you?" A third voice, this time quite cynical demanded as Midorima emerged, dressed in his usual "honor student" garb with a neatly tucked in stripped...was that a dress shirt?...green err...shirt and black pants.

"E-eh? Trouble?" The girl asked.

"Ah. Akakibana-san, what Midorima-kun meant was that it wouldn't be good if Akashi spotted you. After all...Akashi-kun's in the middle of a marriage interview."

"Eh? Oh I see..." Akakibana replied dumbly...before she froze. "OH I-WHAT?!" She gaped, voice way above volume as Aomine instantly slapped his hand on her mouth and dragged her farther away, forcing her into a suffocating silence.

"Shhh keep it down! I'm not planning on tripling my training as punishment!" Aomine cried.

"I have to agree with Aomine-kun. If that happened I'd surely die." Kuroko blankly quipped before Aomine finally released the half-choked girl.

"Okay! I'll be quiet," she rasped between coughs "but...how, no why would Akashi-kun be...?"

"Right? Heh, seems you know him well enough to at least notice that." Aomine smirked, somehow slightly excited. "That's why we're following him, to see what kind of girl would actually get him interested," he explained.

"Or so you say but rather, aren't you just copying Kise-kun's words? In actuality you just wanted to find a chance to get away from Momoi-san and buy that new photobook didn't you?" Kuroko bluntly retorted as Aomine released a laugh.

"Heh, nothing gets by you eh Tetsu?" Aomine admitted without a slight shred of guilt, waving a gravure magazine up in response. Akakibana flinched at the cover. Woah, he was into that kind of stuff?!

"B-but how did you guys know about this?" Akakibana continued still too shocked yet curious to care.

"Ah. Because of Midorima-kun." Kuroko explained.

"Eh?" Akakibana released immediately turning to the verdant youth who pushed his glasses up with a sigh.

"It wasn't as if I meant for that in the first place." Midorima scoffed.

Akakibana blinked. "Huh? What happened?"

[=]

Summer vacation, the only time students could finally escape the hell called school.

However, for the basketball players of Teiko, even summer couldn't elude the hell dubbed "Akashi's training regime" as the regulars piled into the locker room, finally able to change and potentially erase their memories of all that had occurred in the vicinity.

Yet Midorima unwittingly made that impossible.

"Akashi, what have you been looking at for the past minute?" Midorima squinted, eyeing the folder the red-head held suspecting it to pertain to basketball. As vice-captain, it was only his duty to know as well.

Akashi easily read this mind. "Ah this. No Shintarou it isn't a club document. It's simply a portfolio for a marriage interview." He replied flatly.

Everyone in the room paused at that.

"Eh? Akashicchi, you got another one? Recently you've been getting a lot of those," Kise recalled.

"Hah? Really?" Aomine cried, surprised.

"Yes. In the past few months he's gotten around 10," Kuroko, beside Aomine affirmed in nonchalance as he raised his arms to lift up his shirt, revealing a fair-skinned yet lightly toned physique. "But Aomine-kun, it's amazing you don't notice these things despite the ruckus it caused the first time." He added.

Aomine shrugged. "Ah? Well it's not like it matters since it's not as if Akashi's going to accept anyways."

A unanimous agreement silently passed through the room. True. There was no way Akashi was interested in that stuff.

Yet Akashi merely blinked, as if Aomine had made a rather surprising statement. "Ah. No, I do plan on accepting however." He answered, giving them one of his rare innocent stares.

There was a pause.

"HAH?!" His fellow teammates gaped with varying degrees of surprise.

"Akashi, did your brain finally rot?!" Midorima demanded, words harsher than intended due to the sheer absurdity of his response.

Still, Akashi understood and merely gave him another one of his seamless smiles, one whose meaning was ever undefinable as he uttered, "of course not. Although...it does seem as if a worm has placed a notion into my mind. I suddenly thought it might interesting to explore the meaning of a romantic relationship."

His teammates blinked at him in silence. "...Hah." They returned, the noise usually erupted to signal understanding yet that was clearly not the case for the basketball idiots that have barely even considered the meaning of romance.

Even Kise, with his arsenal of romantic experience, acquired ever since girls suddenly started fawning for him (which was since forever) was losing comprehension as he always viewed such relationships as troublesome, especially since the Haizaki incident.

Yet, it was at that moment in which Kise also realized...if Akashi, this omni-potent god-like being was saying this...did _he_ of all people finally fall in love?! With whom?! Why?!

How?!

Was it possible for Akashi Seijuro to act so...human?!

[=]

"And so...curiosity killed the cat." Kuroko concluded, as if that was any way to explain Kise's sudden fascination and pleas for them to start stalking Akashi.

"Hmph, Kise's one thing but Akashi...really, I cannot understand why he would do something as worthless as this." Midorima sighed with distaste.

Kuroko glanced up at him in surprise. "Hmm? Is Midorima-kun worried?" He expressed, noting the attention Midorima was giving to their captain.

"Ohh? Even Midorima?" Aomine snickered, joining in with his arm leaning off Kuroko's shoulder.

On cue, the shooting guard scowled darkly. "Hah?! I am simply confirming whether his finally went mad or not!" He immediately disparaged.

The light and shadow duo stared back without even flinching. "Oi, oi, Midorima, that's called being worried you know?" Aomine pointed out.

"...I'M NOT WORRIED!"

Immediately Midorima began to verbally attack the tanned teen for all the "absurd misconceptions" he held about Midorima and Akashi while Aomine continued to parry them off with his laid-back demeanor. Unfortunately, this attitude was perceived as "Are-you making fun of me Aomine?" and only escalated Midorima's rants.

Kuroko skillfully used this chance to back away from the crossfire before he noticed that someone was technically holding even lower presence than him throughout the fiasco. He turned to Akakibana...whose expression seemed absolutely livid.

He blinked. "Akakibana-san?" he addressed, noticing that she seemed to be terribly out of it with the lip-biting and thus decided to reach his hand out towards the girl for a response.

The moment his hand contacted her shoulder however, she flinched, jolting back a few inches.

"K-kuroko-kun?!" She sputtered, snapping back from shock.

"Akakibana-san, are you alright?" Kuroko questioned, face blank yet somehow, she could tell he was genuinely worried about her.

She however, only groaned further from that fact.

Oh god. No. This is horrible.

"I'M NOT WORRIED! I simply want to find out whoever was that "worm" that placed such an absurd notion in him!"

She flinched.

Err...hopefully he couldn't tell that he was standing right next to the "worm."

_"B-because, you looked as if you thought being alone was better! As if you wanted to challenge yourself through that! T-that's why, you definitely should go o—I mean accept, because by what you've said, you haven't yet experienced a true relationship if you only experienced teamwork with teammates!"_

The words she said that day rang clear in her ears...and flared them up while she was at it.

Frankly, she was beyond overjoyed that her words somehow, kinda, reached him...albeit in quite an estranged way but...WHY A MARRIAGE INTERVIEW?!

How would that ever lead to one?! That made no sense!

Besides, didn't this mean she was completely rejected then?

ALL SHE EVER MANAGED WITH THAT CONFESSION WAS GET HIM TO FINALLY GO TO A MARRIAGE INTERVIEW!

Ah. The world was crashing down. She had never expected this kind of outcome.

She wanted to crawl in a hole and die. This was embarrassing.

Seeing the fruition of her rejection was way too shameful for her to handle.

Who cared about love? Not when the first time she becomes attracted to someone things end up so terribly wron-

"But...it's still creepy that his partner is called 'Satsuki'," she heard Aomine say amidst drowning in her self-created pit of despair.

She immediately jolted up.

"S-satsuki?!" She breathed, as if she couldn't believe her ears.

_"I see…then I'll give it to Satsuki instead"_

_"Tetsuya and Satsuki are being interrogated by the police?"_

_"Oii...are you serious? Tch. Satsuki's definitely going to kill me for ruining this."_

_"Satsuki..."_

Satsuki.

IT WAS ALWAYS THIS "SATSUKI!"

No, no. Everything made sense now. If Akashi was in love with this Satsuki person this whole time and she knew Aomine and the others, it would definitely be awkward if someone like him confessed to her with them knowing so he must've used this marriage interview plan as an excuse to cover it up!

She was his "girlfriend" then!

Suddenly all these thoughts that barely made any logical sense began swarming around her mind as the shock caused Akakibana to slump beside the wall, her expression slightly startling the phantom player who further questioned her sani-er, health.

How could she have overlooked this? This whole time...she was just one-sidedly pushing for nothing, despite how embarrassing everything was to her.

Tomie was wrong. Taking chances was stupid. It was horrible.

She bit her lip.

The negativity caused something to rise up her tear ducts.

Yet, she wasn't even allowed a single moment to wallow.

"Oi! Tetsu! He's leaving the restaurant! We have to get out of here!" Aomine ushered hastily.

"Eh? But Akakibana-san is-"

"What?" Aomine took a quick glance at her but being unable to identify her symptoms (or bother to), he simply grabbed both Kuroko and Akakibana's hands and swung Akakibana under his arm. "Then we'll just have to drag her along!" He cried as with incredible speed, he dashed off, Midorima following closely behind.

"Oi, let's regroup with Momoi and the others!" Midorima commanded.

"Ah? Fine...but hide my photobook alright?" Aomine cried before somehow managing to throw the plastic bag to Midorima despite dragging one and carrying another..

Midorima instinctively slowed, showing signs of repulsion. "OI! Don't make me touch that filth!"

"HAH?! That's my precious Mai-chan's photobook you're calling filth!"

"Aomine-kun, that definitely is filth." Kuroko quipped.

"Oi, you too Tetsu?!"

As she felt the discomfort of being hoisted up roughly by the stomach, Akakibana vaguely heard the sound of the bantering that was occurring beside her.

The fact that she was being dragged off to who knows where, the fact that she technically ditched Tomie, and the fact that they were currently disputing about a gravure magazine, were all things she realized she couldn't care less.

There was this echoing emptiness within her, as if nothing mattered anymore.

Maybe nothing did.

"...Satsuki...huh?"

She looked like an idiot this whole time.

It was embarrassing enough for her to die.

Hmm? She blinked. Wait a minute. Ever since she met Akashi she had been repeating that line over and over again hadn't she? In fact, as she started at the pavement below her, watching Aomine's sports shoes thumped rhythmically up and down, she noticed she honestly wasn't feeling as bad as she thought.

It was as if she gained immunity towards it all. Towards all this embarrassment and fear.

Strangely, she felt calm, eyes glassed over before finally, her rationality returned...along with various logical discoveries.

In the first place, why did she act with such emotion over Akashi attending a marriage interview. Although it was rare nowadays, she wouldn't put _anything_ past him and his eccentricities. Furthermore, there was no need for that expression when she found out his "date" was "Satsuki."

Sure she would be disappointed but, there should've been no reason for her to lose herself like that. After all, since the beginning, she knew her love would be one-sided. Today's events only confirmed what she knew.

Her expression blanked...as her eyes golden irises darted upwards, staring at the tanned male who currently had his head turned away, yelling something back at Midorima.

...Huh.

If she wanted, she could've gotten Aomine to let her down.

However, not a word escaped her lips.

She bit her lip...before releasing a pained smile.

Ah...she knew why. She had always known.

It was because she wanted to know. She wanted to know who this person Akashi chose was like. Somewhere inside of her, was still that lingering hope that would possibly in turn bring so much despair.

Yet, here she was, betting on that hope...like an idiot.

She was truly...an idiot. An idiot hopelessly in love with some person that rarely made any sense.

Her tastes were definitely twisted...yet, even so, it was Akashi that brought so many new emotions to her life, coloring what was once a dull grey with a vivid scarlet.

Even if, he didn't really know it.

Even if, even he of all people wasn't allowed to know it.

No one was allowed to know...exactly what his existence meant to her.

Not even Tomie knew after all.

Her friend simply identified it as puppy love, the bustling emotions of first romance.

Yet, in truth, she didn't know a thing.

And...Akakibana planned to keep it that way.

She heaved a sigh.

Well, it seems as if she was going to give up the title of constantly placing in the top 10 of her school now. Oh. And all her Shogi awards too.

She was going to turn into an idiot.

An idiot who, with the Generation of pro stalkers...was going to truly become a "stalker", just as Akashi foretold.

* * *

**And that's that. I don't know. I feel as if I'm immersing Akakibana too much into this terribly misconcepted romance right now. I hope I'm writing fluff alright (see, I consider this fluff! orz) because seriously, this is all just foreshadowing to "Fall" and "Winter"...but the hints might've been too subtle for one to guess exactly what.**

**But recently, I've gotten a request for a visual image of Akakibana as it's hard to visualize her clearly. Would you guys like that? And if so, I can't generally draw all too well so if you have any ideas on how I can get someone to draw something for me, that would be greatly appreciated XD**

**Oh and "Satsuki" doesn't refer to Momoi, Aomine's only disturbed that his "date" shares the same name. Obviously, Akakibana doesn't know that ;D**

**Note: To check for my writing status, I suggest you visit my profile page. It'll generally tell you what I'm working on atm :D**


	10. 夏: Nonsensical Romance

**Thank you so for the support guys! I am sooo grateful to those that followed, faved, and most of all, reviewed ;A; **

**Seriously, the reviews reached past 150?! That's a huge milestone to me!**

**Honestly, I say this all the time but really, I cannot say this enough. Thank you so much for giving this fic a try!**

_**Plus, a huge thanks to CherryPop0120 for the pic of Akakibana!**That must've taken some major art skills to do. I mean, **Look at those eyes! That expression is so...Inori-like!** I am forever grateful to you (oh and I need to reply to your PM too. I will do so once I get back from work!)_

* * *

**So yeah...let the confusion continue!**

* * *

**夏：Nonsensical Romance  
**

"Where would you like to go, _Satsuki-san?"_ A voice mimicked in a low velvety purr.

"I'd like to go for a stroll by that park over there. Is that okay with you _Seijurou-kun_?" The voice then continued, now rather high-pitched.

"Of course. Although, I hadn't expected you to drop the honorifics _Satsuki-san," _ The voice layered before it suddenly released a goosebump inducing giggle.

"Of course, Seijuro-kun, we are the same age after all. If you'd like you could call m-"

"STOP!" Momoi Satsuki screeched, slapping both hands to her ears. "Stop Ki-chan! Stop telling me what they're saying!" She wailed in horror, rustling the tall bushes the two hid behind.

"Eh?! But Momoicchi was the one who made me in the first place!" The voice, now reverting to its slightly whiny self exclaimed.

"I didn't know you were so accurate, can your copycat skills even be used like this?!"

"Eh?! You're the one who told me it can!" Kise cried. "Besides, why do you look so upset Momoicchi? I thought this was the whole point of tailing Akashicchi."

Momoi grimaced deeply at that. "Well that is but...isn't it disturbing how he's calling her _"Satsuki-san_" in that horrifyingly gentle tone? It feels as if he's talking to me!" She released with a shudder.

"Eh? Y-you?!" A sudden voice gaped.

Momoi froze.

Eh? That wasn't Kise. The tone was too high even for him...did some random stranger catch her in the act of stalking someone?!

Momoi immediately flung around, bubblegum pink hair fluttering across...before her eyes landed...on her beloved...eh?

Tetsu-kun?! Did _he_ somehow make that high-pitched noise?

Yet, for once, Kuroko was not looking at the girl (much to her disappointment) but was rather, turned to the person beside him.

Her eyes naturally followed...until they met beautiful gold ones, a shade similar to Kise's but lighter and...more horrified-looking.

"Akakibana-san?" Momoi heard Kuroko address the girl whose ebony-hair was slightly disheveled under the wind.

The girl however, flinched as her name was called, warily turning to the blunette.

Slowly, she gulped. "Um, Kuroko-kun...? She is..."

"Ah. This is Momoi Satsuki." Kuroko introduced. "Our basketball team's manager."

"Ah yes!" Momoi confirmed, automatically poised with her professional smile as she reached a hand out in offering. "And...you are...?"

"Ah, Akakibana Inori, I um...am acquainted with Kuroko-kun." Akakibana introduced, giving a polite bow.

Momoi momentarily stared...she had never seen this girl before! And...she seemed close to Kuroko?!

But...it was Kuroko! He was so plain that she thought he didn't have any other close acquaintances!

"Eh? You're friends with Kurokocchi?" Kise joined in with new-found interest, flashing her a dazzling smile.

Yet, before she found time to reply, a tanned hand locked the model's neck in choke hold, flinging him back with alacrity.

"Aominecchi?!" Kise demanded in protest as the tanned power forward shot him a glare.

"Oi Kise..." he began, voice unusually low.

"Y-yes?"

"You're a model right?"

"Yes...?"

"You have money right?"

"Umm yeah but-"

Aomine promptly flung a ripped photobook to his hand. "Then go get me another copy of this. Because of this whole mess you started, my precious photobook is ripped!" He exclaimed.

Kise gaped. "EHH?! WAIT, HOW IS THIS EVEN MY FAULT?!"

"WAIT. AOMINE-KUN! You BOUGHT _another_ photobook?! Today?!" Momoi suddenly joined in as Aomine flinched.

"Geh!"

Soon a huge banter began between the trio as the rest watched in lassitude, Midorima, joining Kuroko and Akakibana, heaved a sigh.

"Hmm? Where's Murasakibara?" Akakibana heard him murmur yet Akakibana was too preoccupied to care.

"...Akakibana-san, are you alright? You've been paling quite a lot recently," Kuroko commented beside her.

Momoi immediately stopped nagging Aomine, her ears honing on their exchange. No way, was this worry she sensed here? Was that girl...as she thought, Kuroko's love interest?!

"E-eh?! No I'm fine!" Akakibana squeaked before Kuroko gave her another one of his long stares, the soul-skinning kind.

She gulped.

"...Akakibana-san, is this about Akashi-kun, _again?_"

Momoi froze. Wait, Akashi-kun?

The girl flinched, sudden heat rushing up her cheeks. "W-well um..." she began uncertainly, contemplating whether she should tell but on the other hand, Kuroko didn't seem like the best person to go in such circumstances...

"...Um, I thought by "Satsuki", you meant Momoi-san."

"HAHH?!" Momoi exclaimed, startling everyone in the vicinity before Kise immediately grabbed her mouth. That was LOUD!

Did Akashi hear?!

Kise worriedly peeked out...only to find the park bench where Akashi and Satsuki sat to be empty. He couldn't tell whether he should be relieved or pained that they lost them.

"Satsuki! Quiet down!" Aomine demanded.

"YOU quiet do- ah no, sorry, I'll be quiet now." Momoi apologized, too used to retaliating against Aomine.

"But..." she began, maneuvering towards the girl. "Akakibana-chan! That was too disturbing! Please don't say something like that again!" She cried with a groan.

Akakibana blinked, red to the tips. "Sorry!" She cried with a huge bow. "It's just that...Akashi-kun was always talking about a Satsuki, like how when he got a call that "Satsuki and Tetsuya" were taken in by the police or something...I'm really sorry!"

Momoi blinked...before she broke out in laughter. "Ha? Really?! No, no it's fine, I can completely where that misunderstanding came from. Akashi-kun does have a habit of calling us by our first names."

"Yes. But it just so happens that Akashi-kun's date is Satsuki Yuuka-san, with "Satsuki" as her last name instead."

"Eh? Oh..." Akakibana returned, finally comprehending the situation. So, it really was a random marriage interview...

Yet Momoi's heart only stopped. "...Tetsu-kun?"

"Ah. Yes?"

"Can you repeat that?"

"Ah this part? Akashi-kun's date is Satsuki Yuuka-san, with "Satsuki" as her last name instead?"

Momoi spewed blood, promptly dying.

"Momoicchi?!"

Momoi didnt' reply. She was flying up to heaven.

Okay, although she was disturbed by the terrifying fact that Akashi's date had the same "name" as her and shivered when Akashi-kun said her name like that, she was COMPLETELY fine when Kuroko said it.

He called her by her first name!  
Without honorifics!

ASJDJASDSASDJK

Hurray for marriage interviews! Hurray for Satsuki Yuuka!

YESYESYESYESYES

[=]

For some reason, Momoi became unusually hyped once she recovered, forcing the rest of them to resume operations.

Apparently, Momoi had somehow managed to predict their route with terrifying accuracy and had Murasakibara waiting at a snack stand. Although really, he simply wanted an ice cream cone.

Yet, the whole fiasco turned out to be quite uneventful. 3 hours in, they were starting to get seriously bored. Satsuki Yuuka turned out to be prim and proper, the epitome of Yamato Nadeshiko and besides, it was not as if anyone particularly spited her, they couldn't do anything such as interfere.

Moreover, Akashi himself seemed quite composed, there was no anxiety found in a teenage boy going on what they perceived as the "first date", in fact, despite the girl's modest advances, they didn't do a thing romantic.

Momoi could only notice that although Akashi wasn't feeling very romantic, someone else was. Akakibana was staring intently at them the whole time. Momoi furrowed her brows. Wait...could it possible be?!

"Um...Seijuro-kun, may we go over there? I think I spotted something golden..." Satsuki suddenly asked...while pointing a hand up in _their _ direction.

The gang of pro stalkers immediately blanched. WHAT?!

"We need to run!"

"Where?!"

"Wait look, over there!"

"Ah! WAIT GUYS DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Of course, this was all done in rushed whispers that only further puzzled Satsuki once she reached the bushes.

"Did you find something?" Akashi questioned once he reached her.

"...No. It must've just been my imagination," Satsuki beamed. "But more than that Seijuro-kun, shall we head to the park plaza? There's a small festival being held today!"

"...Of course."

And so...they left, barely missing the stalkers that had either rushed up to a tree, pretended to be a tree (Aominecchi you look exactly like one!), misdirected himself away, pretended to be a bush (Ah! Midorin! That's unfair! You're hair matches!) and threw themselves onto the ground to become a bundle of flowers.

How Satsuki Yuuka even bought all that was a mystery...but, it was better than Akashi taking a peek.

Yet, it seemed that the girl also had a knack of sniffing them out.

She was terrifying.

Everywhere they went, at some point, Satsuki would manage to somehow close in on them, be it through merely taking things to the trash can or buying something from a stand.

By the end up the day, the Generation of Miracles were exhausted.

"...Damn, that girl...I think she just took on a whole basketball team by herself." Aomine groaned tiredly, exhausted by all the adrenaline and terror he felt with each coming attack.

"That sounds very disappointing Aomine-kun, for the Generation of Miracles to be defeated so easily, "Kuroko commented.

"Oi! You're also part of us!"

"But...did we really have to tail Aka-chin?" Murasakibara suddenly pondered. "I mean, it's just a marriage interview right? Aka-chin's family is rich so isn't he supposed to be with someone of high status?"

The group paused.

That...was true.

Perhaps he didn't have to like her. He was just acting this way to fulfill his duty as someone from the "upper class".

"...Eh? So...Akashicchi didn't have someone he like? That's...kinda sad." Kise commented.

"Hmph, that's why I said the notion of love was stupid. Akashi wouldn't like someone in the first place. He has expectations to fulfill and because they're all his own, it is impossible for him to like someone." Midorima retorted, getting up to leave.

Akakibana flinched, as if the words were directed through her. She was actually having quite a lot of fun with the Generation of Miracles after knowing that her strange notions were all fiction.

But...Satsuki Yuuka...was a beautiful girl. Her hair was the color of lilacs, fluttering under summer's gaze. Her personality was also formal, with much elegant and grace.

She was the Yamato Nadeshiko yet...even could not reflect in Akashi's eyes. Then how could Akakibana? One already labelled a stalker among other things.

"But really? I think Akashi-kun does like that girl. I mean, he rejected every single marriage interview except for hers. I saw it but that day when he announced this to us, he was holding three different portfolios." Momoi suddenly intervened.

Everyone veered around.

"WHAT?!" They gaped, not even bothering to question _how_ Momoi knew of their conversation in the change room.

"Ah. I recall that as well."

"Really Kurokocchi?! So Akashicchi-"

"Um, I don't believe now's a good time however. Akashi-kun is coming towards us."

They veered back again, and indeed, Akashi was striding towards them...with a terrifying smile on his face.

"Please wait here Satsuki-san. I have some _business _I must take care of first." He asked of her, _loudly._

They paled.

"We're bolting!" The Generation of Miracles exclaimed in practically unison as Akakibana was left very confused and frantic.

"Akakibana-san!" Kuroko cried, extending his hand.

"Y-yeah!"

So they ran, no longer caring that Akashi had _seen_ them. He was er short to catch up. And it was summer vacation! If they escaped here, they wouldn't have to see him for 2 weeks until their next training camp!

Perhaps he would be too preoccupied to remember by then.

Yet, Akakibana could only think of one thing: Akashi Seijuro had picked Satsuki Yuuka himself.

He acknowledged her so...easily?

But more than that, what was she thinking, feeling relieved that just because Midorima said Akashi wouldn't fall in love with someone so beautiful?

She was a horrible person. She had completely labelled the girl out alongside herself as if to say, "it's fine if he doesn't like me as long as no one else can have him!"

Wow, this sounds eerily similar to the Persian Gulf War she read about. Wow.

This sounded highly pathetic.

She charged forward with alacrity, forcing every pore of her body to help her run, attempting to release all this frustration pent up inside.

She was never much of a runner, save her bouts of speed for 100m dashes but that was only mediocre at best when compared to Tomie's.

Nevertheless, she advanced, breath and pulse hastening forward, feeling the scorch of the summer sun.

By the time she stopped, she was completely out of breath, panting and sinking down on a cement bench, obscured by the worn-down city buildings that surrounded a more secluded train station.

It was already afternoon yet the sun refused to show signs of waning.

Akakibana scooted herself behind the bench instead, longing more for the shade than a proper seat.

She released a sigh. "Kuroko-kun, I think we're far enough now!" She exclaimed glancing up at where she expected him to be yet…he was nowhere in sight.

She blinked…before realizing that she must've lost him somehow…or the other way around. After deciding to use the conflicting emotions as a fuse to ignite an sudden and explosive charge, she must've unintentionally left him.

Well, he didn't seem as if he would chase after her in the first place. Who would?

She silently hugged her knees.

Ah, again she was being selfish and self-centered.

She had expected them to stay with her, despite only meeting them on a whim.

She wasn't Kuroko's friend, nor a part of that gang he was always with.

She was a stranger, dropping in unannounced and uninvited into their little schemes of fun.

Heh, perhaps they staged this whole fiasco just to spite her, to teach her a lesson.

"Pfft," she released a slight chuckle. No, that couldn't possibly have been true.

They were good people. Kuroko was a good person, someone far better than her with equally admirable friends.

Actually on this scale, they were more of a threat to her than Satsuki Yuuka could ever possibly be.

They were the ones chosen to stand next to Akashi.

She smirked. Heh, how could she even think like this?

Through and through, she was horrible. She could not be like the Generation of Miracles, who stood by Akashi's side. She could not be like Kuroko, who Akashi picked personally as a gamble yet managed to far exceed his expectations.

She didn't belong here. She wasn't fit to be recognized by Akashi, much less than be liked by him. Yet, strangely enough, she could not feel spite towards Kuroko.

He was too kind.

She could only loathe herself.

Something wet enveloped her vision, blurring it completely. "You're too nice…Kuroko-kun…" she whispered, the unsaid tears pouring out.

"…Oh? And now you're calling another man's name when you claimed you like me?"

The voice cut through the silence of her tears.

Her eyes flew up in surprise, darting to her side when she saw an all-too-familiar silhouette tower before her, enveloping everything in that deep scarlet as he smirked, "a hypocrite as usual it seems."

"A-akashi-kun? Why?"

"Why am I here?" He translated fluently. "Well, I suppose it's because I managed to catch Tetsuya who seemed to have gotten separated from you. He told me about your general whereabouts and the rest is something you can deduce for yourself." He explained nonchalantly, walking towards her.

She blinked. Eh? Didn't that mean he went this far to search for her?

Akashi leaned down, reaching out his hand. "Now then…let's go back Akakiba—"

Before he reached her shoulder, his hand was slapped away.

His eyes slightly widened in surprise.

"Don't touch me!" She cried with bellicose before muffling her face completely on her knees. "I'm fine…I'm fine so please go back without me!" She heaved out. "Besides, even if you found Kuroko-kun, you still have to get back to Satsuki-san don't you? She's your date!"

Akashi motioned back, narrowing his eyes. "Yes, that's true. I do need to get back to Satsuki-san." He said in an utterly rational tone, angering her further.

He was always so spitefully calm, even in situations like this.

"Then please leave. She's probably waiting for you as well," Akakibana rasped, voice heavy with lead.

Akashi didn't move. In a perfectly apathetic tone, he expressed. "No, I don't want to."

"Eh?"

Slowly Akakibana lifted her head, shock stinging in her golden irises as she gulped. Did she hear him right?

Immediately, her loosened arm was grabbed as she was effortlessly lifted onto her feet, twirled around before a cool icy touch resounded against her cheek.

"You're crying... as usual." He commented flatly as Akakibana realized that he had put a handkerchief to her face, wiping away the tears.

"Ngh! A-as usual?!"

"You were crying that day by the pond as well. But...that's why I won't leave. I still have something to ask you." He calmly stated while pocketing the handkerchief.

She blinked in confusion.

"Are you still willing to hear my reply from that day?"

She eyes flew wide. She immediately turned on her heels to run.

Akashi narrowed his eyes...until the girl froze, mid-run.

She gritted her teeth. No, she couldn't run. All day, she had done nothing but run away from everything unpleasant. She bit her lip.

_Don't run away._

_Don't. Run. AWAY!_

She promptly swiveled back around, this time, with a slightly pained smile on her face, though forced, was also very genuine.

"Would you still be willing to tell me Akashi-kun?" She asked, knowing that she would be rejected.

Strangely enough, Akashi's features had softened severely, as if he had just seen something interesting.

He smirked. "Of course. Then Akakibana Inori, will you go out with me?"

...She choked. HARD.

"WHAT?!" She gaped in sheer confusion, backing away as Akashi moved forward. "W-what about your marriage interview?! A-and Satsuki-san!"

"Ah. My job was to simply help expand relations with the Satsuki family. Although it is officially stated as a marriage interview, the true purpose behind that was to help establish business relationships. It's quite simple for me to accomplish that without having to resort to romantic methods." Akashi explained with mind-boggling suave.

"Hah..." Akakibana sweatdropped, barely comprehending.

"But I must admit, I did gain a bit of new knowledge today." Akashi murmured with a smirk. "Therefore, should I assume you agree?"

Akakibana flinched, face beet red as Akashi's scarlet eyes fell upon her, tantalizing.

She gulped. Was this really reality? Or was she finally delusional enough to make up such a situation?

Yet, the more she pondered it, the more she realized she didn't care. Either way, this was too big of a chance to pass up and either way, she already knew her answer.

She took in a small breath.

From the bottom of her heart, she felt that love she compressed gush out.

"Y-yes!" She exclaimed, eyes squeezed shut from embarrassment.

She didn't dare look at his expression.

"...Then, please take care of me, Inori."

Her eyes flew wide. "...I-I-inori?!" She nearly died right there.

Akashi seemed surprised. "Yes. I was informed that when dating, the other should be addressed more intimately."

Akakibana bit her lip.

Okay, she took back everything she thought about Satsuki Yuuka. That girl was a _goddess_.

Hurray for marriage interviews! Hurray for Satsuki Yuuka!

YES!

* * *

_"As simple as that, the budding flower bloomed,"_

_"did you know how happy I was back then?"_

_"It was supposed to be a secret but,"_

_"to you that knew everything, it was plain as day."_

_"...even so, you accepted me,"_

_"I was happy."_

_Summer-Track A_

_End._

* * *

...So yea, Satsuki Yuuka: the goddess of all girls in love /shot/

I was supposed to drag this out longer but I eventually felt too bad for Akakibana that I was forced to reconsider. (plus, I want to move on to "Fall" because I love plot twists and I live to troll ppl)

We must stop laughing at Akakibana's pain at some point right? LOLOL But, next time, I will be implementing the ideas you guys gave me during that post I made before! Please look forward to it! ;D

**Note: **Am planning to write a KurokoxOC in the future and was wondering if you guys would be interested.

A pending title would be : **The Invisible Ones**

**-On Kuroko's birthday, he receives an old automatic camera from a relative. Checking to see if it works, he snaps a photo with it, only to find a girl floating in the photo. Suddenly he can hear her voice and suddenly they converse, the only problem is, he can never see her. What's there instead of her face, is that single photo he took...of an actual ghost. **

* * *

Also, for another great AkashixOC you can read, try **Hold me Close by animefan106** this is a romance budding from when Akashi was still a kid (yes! child!Akashi *dies*) with a transfer student from America. It's seriously cute *V*

Also, if you like a MidorimaxOC one, try **Glean by Rasielis **the OC herself is a tsundere so it's quite amusing to see the two tsuns interact with each other! (which makes the dere even cuter! *fluff to the max*)


	11. 夏: The Case of Nicknames

**Omg ppl, stop making me update this with your lovely reviews /shot/ **

**Okay seriously, I'm so dead now because I have two presentations tomorrow and I'm freaking out like crazy but...I STILL wrote this.**

**So sorry for any typos and mistakes because this received no proof-reading whatsoever.**

**Hopefully, you'll still enjoy it!**

**To animelover1990: Thanks for catching that, honestly I thought it was a bit rushed as well /shot/ I'm glad you liked this story and as for your idea, keep that in mind for now XD who knows, it may kinda come true ;D**

* * *

**夏: The Case of Nicknames**

It was on a hot summer's day that Akakibana Inori became acquainted with a godly thing called an Android smartphone. Although the device was not as grand as an Iphone, it sincerely felt like the best thing on earth as she gently caressed its black touch screen, marvelling at its glory while walking through Harajuku.

She wasn't even sorry that she broke her phone anymore! Plus, with the prize money she won at a recent tournament, convincing her mother to allow her to buy one was a cinch.

Ahh, these were good days, good days indeed...particularly because she,( while pulling out a small slip from her pocket), had finally gotten Akashi Seijuro's number and, although she still hadn't managed to concoct the perfect greeting to him when she did and was thus, very reluctant, that didn't mean she couldn't indulge in an overly embarrassing experiment Tomie Yuu informed her of—putting him as her first contact in her phone.

It was an honor and act more favorable than any as ordinarily, the home phone should go first but…in this case, as she was still completely high off the fact Akashi actually agreed, she had an irresistible urge to attempt this.

It was okay right? After all, they were officially dating...or so she hoped.

Technically, they hadn't met up once with each other nor called afterwards due to him not knowing her number and she getting too agitated from the nervousness of the first call as she knew he was a busy man…but, but, it was still true!

He liked her!

…Er, well he never actually said that but why _else _would he date _her?_

"Well, dating doesn't mean it's out of pure love, there are relationships of benefits, toying with for fun, and more!" The little Tomie within her head reminded.

Akakibana grimaced.

…_Ahem. _Ignoring that negativity coming from a surprisingly not-so-pleased but rather skeptical Tomie upon Akakibana's bliss, the ebony-haired girl proceeded to log Akashi in.

_Name. _ The screen displayed.

Already, the girl lost the war.

"N-n-name?" She rapidly blinked, immediately recalling how once Tomie in her lovey-dovey gushing, flashed her boyfriend's contact, displaying instead of his name but the words, "My darling ~" before then explaining that it was perfunctory for such expressions of love to be saved.

Akakibana immediately steamed, face ripe as a tomato.

C-c-could she do that?!

D-d-did she have to do exactly like Tomie and what she proclaimed to be the rest of the world's couples did?!

Well sure it's…erm sweet but- but that was so excessively embarrassing!

She gulped, fingers shaky as she began punching in the letters, irises spinning in circles.

"T-th-that's right, I've got to do this…" she coaxed herself.

"It's just a m-my darling…" She repeated, fingers nearly on the screen.

"That's right, just a—"

"Kise-kun!"

"Right, K-i-s-e…"

Akakibana froze, noticing how her contact displayed the words "Kise".

…HAH?!

She immediately whipped around, unintentionally saving it before she noticed a huge crowd of girls attempting to squeeze past each other to get closer to a blond male in the center.

She gaped, immediately recognizing his drop-dead gorgeous face. Kise Ryouta?!

Why was he here? Wait, if he was here then…could Akashi be too?!

Her head automatically swivelled around, surveying her surroundings for hope of Akashi's presence…before she remembered that oh right, those rainbow-colored basketball players weren't stuck to each other like glue.

Moreover, they were in fashion district Harajuku, he could've simply been doing a modelling gig before the fangirls caught him.

She sighed, walking away. Well this was disappointing.

"Akakicchi!" A voice hollered behind her.

She continued walking, golden irises glancing at her phone.

"Hey wait, Akakicchi!" The voice repeated, now closer while Akakibana surmised it was some guy chasing after his friend.

"Akakicchi!"

She looked up before her, curious, wondering how someone could so adamantly ignore a friend that addressed them so closely.

Yet, strangely enough, there was no one that seemed to be in a hurry to run at all.

She blinked. "Huh…" she released—before she was promptly swung around by a hand on her shoulder.

"WOAH!" She exclaimed before she met eyes with the most beautiful saffron gold she had ever seen, pieced together to form eyes and luxurious hair before swooping down into a perfect crest of a face.

It was Kise Ryouta.

"Akakicchi! That was so mean of you to ignore me!" He exclaimed with hurt eyes.

She blinked, too shocked to speak. Akakicchi?! Wait, he meant her?!

Momentarily she wondered how someone whom she recalled speaking to for less than 10 seconds and didn't have much of a chance to speak to after Aomine and Kuroko came into play, was addressing her by nickname (a weird one at that) but, then again, she was pretty sure this happened with Murasakibara as well.

She released a small sigh. Was it her, or was she starting become accustomed to the craziness of the basketball team?

(in which Kuroko would pat her on the back sympathetically with a "you too huh?")

[=]

"Woww, was that a coincidence!" Kise cheerily exclaimed while Akakibana found herself enjoying a strawberry milkshake in a cafe.

She had no idea how things ended up this way but there was just something about Kise's sparkling tenacity (or eyes) that she couldn't quite refuse. Then again, had she adamantly managed to refuse anyone in the first place?

"W-well then Kise-kun, why were you here? Were you modelling in the area?" She asked, establishing more "normal" conversation.

Kise blinked. "Ah! I knew Akakicchi would know that I model but yeah, my manager's been a slave driver to me just because it's summer vacation," Kise sighed "...even though I already have a slave driver out of Akashicchi..." he added with a sullen pout.

"What about Akakicchi?"

"E-eh? Ah um, I came to buy a phone," she said, showing him the smartphone without a passing thought.

Kise beamed, "Oh? So it's this brand? You made a great choice Akakicchi!" He praised. "This is a very reliable brand! Hey, may I take a look?" He continued.

Akakibana blinked. Wow, this person was more sociable than she thought. Although she can't say she was somehow not attracted by his looks, besides that, she couldn't help but be impressed by his ability to adapt to people.

Unlike Akashi, whose calm and admirable demeanor could make anyone be in awe at his presence, Kise displayed a different kind of awe: to make the others feel comfortable.

Still, she thought she would pick Akashi any other day as there was just something about the red-head that was too special for her to lose. He was daunting, tantalizing, and all things terrifying but...those were because he was kind. It was his special kind of kindness.

Besides, he was her first love and...that wasn't going to change.

"Hey Kise-kun," she asked, watching the other fiddling with her phone.

"Yes?" He smiled with the glimmer of a thousand diamonds.

"Why are you calling me Akakicchi?"

"Ah, it's a habit of mine, to call the people i respect by adding 'cchi'" The rangy model informed.

Akakibana veered up. "Eh?! Respect? Wait, why would you respect me?!" She exclaimed in confusion, if it was any of the other members of the Generation of Crazies, she would understand but _her_?!

The blond however, merely blinked, as if the answer couldn't possibly be more obvious. "Eh? Of course I respect you, you're Akashicchi's girlfriend. That in itself is more amazing than anything I've ever heard of."

The golden-eyed girl paused...before she flared up. "YOU KNEW?!"

[=]

"Honestly, I had hoped you all had something better to do than tail me for the whole day," Akashi Seijuro reprimanded with a curt sigh.

It was the afternoon and after rounding up all the basketball players that _dared_ to run, Akashi had returned from escorting Satsuki Yuuka to the station to have a little _chat._

"Ehh don't be like this Akashicchi! We were just curious! It's not like you to suddenly declare you were going to a marriage interview!" Kise, along with the rest of the gang stuck kneeling on the ground attempted to reason.

"Well, it was quite unlike Akashi-kun," Kuroko agreed in nonchalance before Akashi released another sigh.

"Fair enough." He curtly replied with a wave, allowing them to stand.

"But oi, did that Satsuki girl leave? Are you seriously dating her?" Aomine questioned as he got up stretching his joints.

Akashi blinked back with genuine surprise. "Hmm? No," he impassively stated.

"Hmph. See? I told you Akashi wouldn't delve into such matters. He clearly isn't going to date anyone." Midorima declared with a triumphant huff.

Akashi raised a brow. "No, I am dating someone however."

...Everyone choked.

Midorima's glasses cracked.

"WHAT?!"

"Wait, Akashicchi?! Are you serious?! Who is it?!" Kise gaped in sheer astonishment.

"Ah, Inori." Akashi simply replied while Kise squinted.

"Inori?" Aomine joined in, brows furrowed in confusion. Who the hell was that?

They all paused, Midorima and Momoi too shocked to speak and Kuroko purposely keeping his silence.

"...Ah. Doesn't he mean Kiba-chin?" Murasakibara suddenly offered.

"Ohhh, Kiba-chin? OOH...But...who the heck is that?!" Kise disparaged. Last time he checked he didn't know a girl called Kiba (fang)!

"Eh? Kiba-chin is Kiba-chin?" Murasakibara replied with a tilt of his head.

"That makes no sense!" Kise huffed out. Ah, it was stupid of him to ask!

Midorima sighed, unable to let this farce continue. "Ahem, I believe Akashi is referring to the girl with us earlier, Akakibana Inori." He revealed, slightly pink in the face.

Never did he thought Akashi would hold romantic feelings for such a girl but...then again, with Akashi, one never knew exactly how he felt.

They all paused.

"...THAT GIRL?!"

"Is that true Akashicchi?! I know that she has a nice face but isn't she slightly lacking in many areas? I always expected someone as scary as Akashicchi to be beside you!" Kise bluntly exclaimed.

Of course, they all expected him to be pummelled for disagreeing with Akashi but instead of anything throat-slitting said in retaliation, Akashi Seijuro merely smirked, as if acknowledging this.

"True. She isn't very strong or versatile mentally," he admitted, "and is indeed not someone to my usual tastes. Satsuki Yuuka would have technically been a better fit."

Midorima squinted. Now that was simply weird. "Hah? If so, then why do you like her?"

Akashi merely grazed past him with that ever-aloof grin.

"Who knows?"

[=]

Kise Ryouta turned out to be very frank and honest, not sparing Akakibana a single detail regarding their exchange...leaving her with conflicted emotions.

...What did Akashi mean by who knows?!

Did he really like her or not?! If so, why?! WHY WHO KNOWS?!

No, was Tomie's words actually true?! Was he simply using her?! But for what?! As if there was something he could use from her!

From across, Kise watched in intrigue at the confused girl. If anything, she definitely was honest, her emotions were spilling across her face.

However, just as he thought, she seemed like a normal girl. He really didn't understand where Akashi was going with this at all.

Well, in the first place, that was what caught his interest after all.

He smiled, eyes sliding back down to her phone before he finally came across the contacts page, thinking that he should add himself for future reference...before he noticed he was already there.

In fact, he was the first recorded name.

Curiously he propped it open...before he squinted. This wasn't his number..."eh? Isn't this Akashicchi—WOAH!"

Immediately he was pulled forward with tremendous force, money-making face nearly banging the table.

He whipped up in confusion...only to meet the eyes of the equally panicked.

"K-k-kise-kun! You didn't see that just now did you?!" Akakibana demanded with foreign ferocity.

"Eh yes-" Her eyes immediately sharpened...just like Akashi's.

"Er no!" He cried out of reflex before the girl blushed a deep scarlet.

"You saw it after all!" She accused before turning away.

Kise sweatdropped. "...Hah..." he uttered, unsure of what to make of her outburst before his eyes fell back onto the phone.

"But is my name here instead? And besides...isn't this misspelled?" He pointed, noting the hiragana instead of kanji.

The girl flinched, unable to meet his eyes. "Um...well I wasn't sure what to name him and...accidentally pressed that?" She weakly returned while Kise frowned.

"Name him...?" He repeated, unable to comprehend how this was a debatable matter before his eyes dawned in realization.

"OH! You mean the cellphone pet names?" Kise discerned, right on target as the girl widened her eyes in shock.

"W-well yeah..." she uttered, surprisingly honest.

Kise grinned from ear to ear. Huh, so that was it.

"Hmm, then have you gone on a date yet with Akashicchi?" He slyly asked yet, instead of embarrassing the girl she...kinda deflated.

"...No actually, I've only received his number recently and…I don't think he even knows mine." Akakibana confessed…as if she was taking his tease as an invitation to counseling.

Kise blinked. "Eh? Really? I expected Akashicchi to be more of the possessive type…" he murmured, attempting to extract the nonsense both the modelling world and his older sisters filled his brain with regarding love.

"Ehh? No way, not at all. Akashi-kun's really aloof about everything…to the point where I don't even know why he accepted me…" she trailed off, back into her own little wallowing world.

The model didn't waver however, in fact, he was sincerely intrigued. If she didn't know, then why did Akashi accept her?

It was a huge mystery but, it may be worthwhile to find out. Besides, though she was slightly awkward and a bit too honest, she was sincere.

Kise hadn't seen a girl like this with the exception of Momoi in a long time.

So…it wouldn't hurt to try something…right?

He flashed her a dazzling grin. "Then why don't we find out?"

"Eh?"

Kise promptly showed her the phone.

**Calling:**

**Sei-chan~**

Akakibana choked. "SEI-CHAN?!" She gaped. That went even above a level of embarrassing than Tomie's!

"…Sei-chan?" The other end of the line frowned.

She flinched.

Oh god she wanted to die.

* * *

**And that's that! As usual reviews and prayers for my last two weeks of school and asdklasldkjlaskdj number of exams would be greatly appreciated! **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter like the last.**

**I sincerely hope you didn't think I would be nice to Inori just because she's dating Akashi right? ;D (No, I want to kill her because Akashi is MINE /LOLOL JKJKJK SHOT TO DEATH/)**


	12. 夏：Ray of Sunshine

**Omg I apologize for the late update. I am soo sorry that guest-san who reviewed Those of the Birdcage manor had to also drag me back into typing this chapter up TTATT **

**But no worries! I shall update at most once a week until the "Fall" section begins!**

* * *

**夏：Ray of Sunshine**

_"Sei-chan?_"

On a nice sunny morning, Akakibana Inori found herself drinking tea with a hot and well-establish model that would've caused nosebleeds miles away.

However, Akakibana Inori was not feeling any of the ecstacy normal girls her age would've felt.

Instead, she was facing the worst situation ever in her more or less non-existent love life.

What. What was this?

Akakibana Inori stared her new smartphone in shock, hands shaking and face flushed red.

What was this? WHAT WAS THIS?! HE HEARD!

HE HEARD HER CALL HIM THAT!

And wait, was he mad?

WAS HE MAD?!

Brain on the brink of overload, Akakibana was ready to smash into a wall for something to say, anything to dispel the whole awkwardness of the situation!

"A-ah! I meant, c-c'est un chance!" She blurted randomly before realizing that also made no sense!

"...C'est un chance?" The voice on the other end skeptically returned as she blew up into a tomato.

Damn this was so embarrassing! She gritted her teeth. It was too late to turn back anyways!

"Y-yeah! I-it's ah, um...E-english for it's a c-chance!" She rapidly sputtered out as she turned to Kise with pleading eyes, asking him to help her get out of this mess.

He simply tilted his head, first in confusion, before he beamed and gave her a thumbs up sign. "See? It's going well isn't it?"

She gaped at him. LIKE HELL!

Was he doing this on purpose?!

"...You mean French." The other end flatly corrected.

"E-eh? Ah!" She widened her eyes, honestly too preoccupied with secretly cursing the blond to hell to notice her folly.

There was an evident sigh released from the phone."Well, from this, it's clear that it is Inori." He muttered as she slightly honed in on the fact that he was continuing to call her by first name.

Yet, in the next nanosecond, she could only cringe, realizing his underlying meaning. What did he mean by it was clear that it was her?! WAS THIS HOW HE IDENTIFIED HER?! BY AWKWARD AND RANDOM CONVERSATION TOPICS?!

"Y-yes..." She answered dejectedly, a clear grimace on her lips.

"And what business do you have with me?" The male coldly continued, tone not a shred nicer than before...even though they were technically dating.

The girl froze. In actuality, thinking up a reason why she would call him was harder than making a random pun out of his name! "A-ah! U-um Well I just-" she blathered, eyes darting around the cafe for anything that could be used as a note-worthy reason to speak to the extraterrestrial god called her boyfriend.

She never considered him being her boyfriend was reason enough.

Yet, she didn't have to because suddenly, a large, warm hand cupped itself over her hand, the contact startling her, allowing her to loosen her grip as the phone was gently swept out of her hand.

Her eyes followed those elegant fingers as they pressed her phone upon the ear of the blond, sending her a wink signaling a silent "leave it to me!".

She blinked. Every time she looked at him, she was reminded of sunshine.

She idiotically let her guard down.

"Uissu! Akashicchi! Sorry, I was the one who called you, not Akakicchi!" Kise explained.

"...Ryouta? Why are you with her?"

"Ah, we happened to pass by each other so I'm currently taking Akakicchi out on a date!" The blond breezily answered.

Akakibana nodded, glad that he was handling the situation well before she promptly choked.

...DATE?!

Eyes of disbelief attempted to bore a hole through the blond, but that dense wall of sunshine and flowers that surrounded his visage was far too impossible to break, he didn't even seem to think he said anything wrong!

Of course, Kise had a reason to. He wondered if it was actually possible for Akashi to be jealous.

"...Is that so? That's fine and all but do remember to not bother me when you have nothing to say." Akashi tonelessly lectured.

Now it was Kise's turn to look surprised. Eh? Well Akashi WAS always calm but in this case, wasn't he way TOO calm? He couldn't even detect a shred of jealousy from his reply!

Okay, it was time to get serious!

"Ehhh? Don't be like that Akashicchi! Of course I properly have something to say! You know about our training camp next week right?" Kise began, concocting a well initiated scheme.

"The one where you will receive three times the normal training?"

'Yeah! The one where I will-WHAT?!" Kise immediately cried. "HUH?! I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!"

"Well you will if you continue to waste my time."

Kise sweatdropped. "Okay fine...well, can we bring Akakicchi along? In the last few days we have to cook for ourselves and although I like Momoicchi, I'm not ready to die yet." Kise intoned. "Akakicchi, you can cook right?" He confirmed, turning to the girl.

She was anything but pleased. "...I can but Kise-kun...WHY AM I GOING WITH YOU ALL?!" She demanded, clearly distressed yet only receiving another indecipherable smile as he confirmed the data with Akashi.

"Yes! Thanks Akashicchi!" Kise exclaimed after receiving proper consent.

"And is that all?" Akashi asked.

"Yup! Oh and by the way, Akakicchi and I will be hanging out in Harajuku today, if you're gonna drop by, let me know! See you!"

He promptly ended the call.

Akakibana just stared at him like he was the craziest being in the world. Damn, just because he was super good-looking, she let her guard down!

"...Kise-kun..." The girl began, golden eyes completely disenchanted as the blond beamed sparkles back at her.

"What's up Akakicchi?" He innocently smiled.

"...You DO know that people CAN'T JUST PLAN THINGS RANDOMLY LIKE THIS RIGHT?!" She exclaimed, finally bursting. She tapped her hand with a pointed finger, listing everything that should've first been taken care of.

"First you should've at least talked it over with me, I have a family I need to confirm with first and second, you never even told me the date or place? What if I can't make it?! Kise-kun, that's too irresponsible!" She cried in exasperation.

Suddenly she froze, irises wide. Huh...she never usually got angry with people she just met. No, more than that, she never expressed her feelings so well with a person she just met.

"...Well, that's true but, you'll definitely come in the end." Kise assured.

She frowned, not comprehending.

"After all, considering your word choice Akakicchi," Kise began, that ever-effervescent smile dancing on his lips. "It sounds like you're afraid that you can't come." Kise pointed out, unexpectedly acute.

She blinked. Ah, did she say it like that?

Sunshine engulfed her.

"You do want to come after all right? Come and see Akashicchi?"

...Wow, he was definitely not a model for nothing.

She gave a curt nod, embarrassed yet not at all. Kise Ryouta really did have a way of comforting others, like the sun itself.

"Well! That's great! Because you're going to the Saitama Shogi tournament right? Our camp is in the same area so you can come over on the last few days!" Kise exclaimed.

Akakibana froze...how did a person she barely knew have so much personal data on her?!

"...Um well in that case I _can_ make it but...Kise-kun, how did you know that?" She inquisited, ready to label him as potentially dangerous.

The blond didn't miss a beat. "Oh! I just asked my fans from our school!" He beamed, flashing his phone to display a forum where girls were hoarding to send him her information.

A cold chill shot up her spine. THE DATA WAS SO TERRIFYINGLY ACCURATE.

She made careful note not to get on the bad side of the girls in her class.

But wait...the top commenter seemed to know a little too much. In fact, said person was the one that leaked her to be attending the tournament.

She frowned, squinting closely at the handle name...before she gaped in realization.

_TomyYouu..._THIS WAS TOMIE YUU WASN'T IT?!

WHAT DOES FRIENDSHIP EVEN MEAN?! And wait, she has a boyfriend already too!

"Well, aside from that, shall we go?" Kise asked, snapping her out of her terrible reverie.

"Eh? To where?" She mumbled out, too disenchanted to care.

"Eh? Our date of course?"

"...You weren't joking?!"

[=]

Of course, their excursion wasn't an actual date but rather, a "date spot tour" where Kise suddenly exclaimed that he wanted to aid the girl in her love pursuit, despite the fact that she was clearly already dating the guy.

At first she gaped at him. After all, it meant that from his perspective, her romance with Akashi was already doomed from the start.

However, things turned out to be unexpectedly fun. Although from time to time the girl would feel malicious gazes burn into her midnight hair, overall, it was quite refreshing.

He took her to the renown crepe store by Takeshita Dori, describing which flavors were currently trending, continued down to Otomesandori with its arrangements of shops, boutiques, and other stores, saying that in honesty, a guy loves to pick out clothes for girls as it gives them a sense of possession.

Half-way through however, she pointed out that the person they were talking about was _Akashi._ Would he really have found those things enjoyable?

"...Enjoyment comes from trying something new?" Kise winked.

And she knew she was dead.

She sighed, deciding to simply enjoy the day. It was summer vacation after all and in the first place, she didn't want to return home early either.

Eventually, they passed by an old Japanese-styled building with a sign out front. The ebony-haired girl curiously stared up at the sign in intrigue.

It said it was a Shogi cafe. She had never heard of something like that.

"H-hey, K-kise-kun!" She exclaimed, stopping him in his tracks.

"Huh? What's up Akakicchi?" Kise turned, swiveling around...only to be met with a surprisingly passionate gaze.

"Can we go in for a bit?"

This time, she was the one sparkling.

[=]

"...Nghh...ahh, I'm really bad at strategy games..." Kise muttered, scratching the back of his head as he found himself at a Shogi board with a group of girls gathered around him.

His opponent, also a girl, only grinned. "Just give it a try!" She exclaimed while Kise wondered how he got himself in this mess.

Well...he could just use his copy-cat skill...

"...Ah."

It didn't take long before he reached checkmate.

He gasped in horror.

YOU CAN'T MIRROR MOVES IN SHOGI!

"Aww, you nearly did it too Kise-kun!" The girls deflated, attempting to comfort him as he laughed, wondering how he got himself in this mess.

"Do you want to play another round?" His opponent asked with a sly yet forcibly seductive smirk.

He smiled. "Aww, please give me a break already!" He laughed while they laughed, flashing his incredible interpersonal skills once more.

Deciding to see how the perpetrator behind his ordeal was doing, his eyes swept over to the other table, where there was an aggregation of old men.

...Well was she attracting the wrong party!

"Hmm, that tactic is interesting. It's a inversion of the _Mino _castle..."

"But does she intend to cause her own fall by trappingg herself?"

Kise really didn't understand the mutterings of the old men amongst themselves but as he neared the table, a feat easily accomplished with his height, he saw the board, and saw Akakibana looking...serene...for once.

The expression she had on her face with a light smile, not malicious nor overly joyful. It was an impassionate smile, one calm and brimming with tranquility, unlike her opponent who clearly had his brow creased in frustration.

"Ah, even though Yuki-kun has been winning tournaments for years...!"

His eyes perked at the words. Akakibana was...probably beating someone amazing?

"_Oute."_

The words come peaceful yet pristine, unlike one would due after they had conquered the board as she gave her opponent a bow and her opponent returned it politely.

Suddenly there was clapping.

Kise seriously didn't get what went on but joined in, just because of the expression on her face. It was much more confident and happier than before. It was an expression that wasn't visible when he mentioned Akashi.

He thought back to their excursion, to the crepes and the shops where the girl often smiled. It made him think that she truly was an ordinary girl, something that truly surprised him considering that it was Akashi who chose her...or did he really?

The mystery treads deeper.

The next game however, against a skilled veteran, the girl promptly lost.

"Haha! You still have a long ways to go young lady!" The veteran patted heartily as the girl sighed dejectedly.

"Yess..." she muttered before she smiled. "But thank you for the match Ise-san, I still have a lot to learn."

"Mhmm! That's the attitude!" The man continued as he suddenly pointed to the board.

"But this tactic here you used was interesting..."

"Ah that's..."

It wasn't long before Kise lost the conversation and realized that like the basketball team was somehow dubbed the group of basketball idiots, the girl was a Shogi maniac.

Still, the smile on her face at least let him know she was enjoying himself, he sighed, content.

Well, he could always ask her about the details between her and Akashi later, particularly how she even got him to agree.

He didn't think he could regret that choice so soon.

It wasn't until they were ready to leave did she reluctantly spill the beans of her confession.

Kise couldn't be more shocked.

"Hah?! Akakicchi you...you're too awkward!" He exclaimed in horror, her pain finally managing to break through his barrier of sparkles and actually affect him.

How could she say something that would make Akashi ask the benefits of dating her? Even Kise would be at a loss for words at that point.

Akakibana flinched. "...Well, at least...I managed to think up a proper reply?"

"...YOU REPLIED?!"

She cringed. "Eh? Was that bad?"

"What did you even say?"

Her irises gazed up, attempting to remember. "...Something like, because it's different from being friends...?" She frowned, somewhat satisfied with her response.

Kise blinked back at her. "HAH?!"

He shut his eyes momentarily, attempting to piece together her words before realizing that it basically sounded like she was going to "teach Akashi about love" except without the seductive _Onee-san_ connotations.

...Wow was she dead but wait, _Akashi_ of all people actually fell for that?!

"Um...is that really bad?" Akakibana weakly asked before Kise began explaining to her the undlying meaning of her words.

Soon he found the girl crouched in a corner-absolutely petrified.

"Um...Akakicchi?" Kise waved as the girl began muttering incoherently.

"Oh my gosh I shouldjustdiewhathaveIdonethisissoembarrassinganda lsoverymisleading askdjlsakjdlsjada" She continued, not giving him any acknowledgment whatsoever.

He sweatdropped. Well, this definitely could be messy, particularly when the girl who said those words happened to be without a love life until...no, EVEN until now.

He sighed...before he knelt down in front of her, finally at eye level.

"Well it's not that bad Akakicchi, cheer up. Either way, even if you did say that by accident, you did manage to catch Akashicchi's attention and that's already a great accomplishment itself!" He encouraged, learning the ways of sweet-talking through his work and two older sisters. Comforting a girl was near second-nature to him now.

"...Really?" She hesitantly asked.

...Wow was she easy to coax. Kise beamed. "Of course! All you have to do now is actually show him!"

"...Eh? Like a seductive _Onee-san?" _She questioned, face contorted with distaste.

"..No, like...a normal person?"

"..."

"Well why don't we start with what you like about him?"

"...Kise-kun are you serious?" She returned, clearly out of energy as he released a sheepish chuckle. It didn't look like he was going to get anywhere at this rate with her absolutely devastated.

He needed to reverse the mood.

"Ah, isn't that Akashicchi?" He exclaimed pointing over at one of the tables.

"EH?!" She immediately jumped up, eyes flying to that general direction...to find not even a hint of that familiar scarlet.

"Just kidding~" Kise laughed as she gaped at him.

"Kise-kun!" She hectored.

"But Akakicchi really does perk up when you see Akashicchi~" Kise commented as the tip of her ears reacted, burning with scarlet.

"...W-well that can't exactly be h-helped r-right? I-I like him after all..." she murmured, beet red,

"So then I'm asking you to tell me why you like him. Don't understimate me, I have been listening to my elder sisters' relationship problems since young." Kise assured confidently.

She bit her lip.

"...Well, because despite how expressionless he is, Akashi-kun is reliable and kind?"

Kise blinked.

"Because...Akashi-kun really helped me out a lot. Over and over again, he helped me when I really needed it, was there for me when I needed it, even if he does all these things unintentionally. Overall, I feel that around him, for once, I am safe, that I'm in another world." She replied with a content smile.

She immediately lifted her head up, hoping for a reply, only to receive an empty expression.

She blinked. "...Kise-kun?"

He beamed. "Ah! Sorry for spacing out! I was just thinking of something! But that's good, then you just have to express those feelings to Akashicchi!" He exclaimed.

She frowned. "Huh?!"

"Yup! But before we start let's get outside first." He said as the two walked out and continued outside.

It didn't take long for their little excursion to end.

As he kindly sent her back to the station, Kise sauntered down another street, recalling a small errand his sisters wanted him to run.

Yet, as he did so, he couldn't help but recall Akakibana's words.

...She really was a normal girl, giving the near textbook answer.

"...He really helped me a lot..." Kise repeated, citing her words. "...That just sounds like anyone would do. Akashicchi isn't the only nice one when he needs to be in this world."

"It's as if, it didn't matter who, but all Akakicchi cares for is someone to take her away...like a prince on a white horse."

...Was this really love?

At least, love for Akashi?

Last time he checked, he was definitely_ NOT _a Prince Charming.

[=]

Back in the Shogi cafe, a red-head entered greeting the master politely.

"Oh, Akashi huh? Haven't seen you here for a while."

"Yes, it's been a while, Ise-san"

"Yup! But it's such a shame, a very skilled girl came here with her boyfriend until a few minutes ago, maybe she could've even given you a run for your money!"

Akashi tilted his head. "Oh? Is that so?"

"Yup, and boy did she find a pretty boy, blond hair and all and...was he some kind of model too?"

Akashi widened his eyes...before he smirked.

"Ah, then I may know. I believe I passed by those two on my way in."

"Oh really?"

"Yes...but regarding whether the girl could give me a challenge, perhaps it may be true." Akashi replied.

"What?! Really? Ooh! I should've gotten her contact!"

He nodded. "Yes...particularly when she has the audacity to two-time for so long already." He smirked, checking the time when Kise phoned him on his cell.

It was over 3 hours ago.

"Eh?"

* * *

**Omg I am so done. Never writing this in one go ever again. Eyes are rotting in their socket /spazzes/**

**But I hope you liked this chapter,**

**I did my best to make it light-hearted because Kise is loveable like sunshine. But annoying like sunshine too. :D**

**Oh and if you don't mind, please let me know of what you think this story's strength and weaknesses are because I really want to know what kind of mood I'm setting for this fic so far since I'm getting ready to twist everything around in Fall and messing up would be bad XP**

**Thank you so much!**

**Oh and as a treat, my next update will be within the week so expect an update in 3-4 days! :D Sorry for having to wait for so long but I HAVE REVIVED AND SHALL KEEP REVIVING UNTIL "FALL" ROLLS AROUND IN THIS STORY!**


	13. 夏：Tumble-down Joy

**Hi there. This author has died due to gratefulness towards all you **

**Seriously, I am so happy and grateful. Hopefully, this fic will live up to your expectations till the end!**

**In fact, here is a 5,200 word chapter, the longest one ever to send you my appreciation!**

**Also, special thanks to Iam Titania-falls and animefan106 for the lovely Akakibana fanart askldjsalkdlsakjdlskajd**

**OMG I ADORE YOU PPL ;A; **

**If you guys would like to see them, please head to my tumblr link on my profile page and then click Fanfiction! (cuz ffnet is stupid and won't let me post links QAQ) **

* * *

**夏：Tumble-down Joy**

They tried. They tried so hard. Yet, in summer, the inevitable always occurs.

Trying isn't enough, hard work isn't enough; the anguish slaps them across the face as the camera shutters flashed, two individuals standing at the pinnacle of their middle school Shogi careers.

Akakibana Inori smiled, expression slightly forced as she carried the weight of the female middle school tournament champion cup. Well, she knew it would be returned again for next year because the association was cheap and everyone had their budget cut but...aside from that, for some reason, she didn't feel as joyful as she should've felt.

Last year she was one of the defeated, making it to the finals before unfortunately matched up against the previous year's champion, ending Akakibana's summer with the ring of defeat. Although it was embarrassing, she admitted that she didn't accept that all too well, with a cloud of gloom hung over her for a whole month afterwards yet, that was all the more reason why she should've been well..._happier._

She also tried, pushed herself to become better and well, this year, became better—better than the adversary that previously wiped the floor with her.

However, instead of triumph, she felt as if she had lost. After all, if it wasn't for a mistake the girl had made, Akakibana would've never won.

...If it was Akashi Seijuro, that mistake would've never been made.

She stared languidly at the person beside her: the male ladder champion. He was a boy she often played against, someone she knew well yet...the only thing that passed through her mind...was that he wasn't Akashi.

Akashi Seijuro wasn't here. Basketball took priority.

Of course, it wasn't as if she felt lonely, in fact, the idea of him standing next to her as the male champion was for some reason, strangely crushing, as if a part of her wouldn't be able to breathe.

So what was it that she felt?

She didn't know this emotion, didn't understand it but...all she was certain of was that if Akashi were here, he would win, as if it was as natural as breathing.

She froze, a lump forming in her throat...before she smiled.

...Well she should be proud of her _boyfriend _in that case?

From the back of the crowd, she caught someone familiar. She gave a curt nod in acknowledgement.

Midorima pushed up his glasses.

She smiled.

Well, she could leave this feeling behind her now.

She was finally going to see Akashi again.

[=]

Suitcase rolling on the pavement, Akakibana Inori exited the bus with two others beside her.

They had long left the tournament venue and were now heading for their camp lodge. However, things are never as peaceful as Akakibana hoped it to be, particularly due to a certain blond.

"Akakicchi...did you seriously not see me?!" Kise cried for the umpteenth time as he, Akakibana and an increasingly irritated Midorima who pretended to not know the blond began heading down the road to the beach.

"S-sorry...I'm really sorry!" Akakibana repeated yet again without fail with a deep apologetic bow.

Although in all honesty she wasn't _as_ sorry because what had transpired was that instead of noticing Kise at the awards ceremony like any girl would've done, she noticed Midorima first instead. It was something quite trivial to her but she apologized profusely nevertheless because she couldn't find anything else to say.

Even if they were slightly veering on insincere by this point in time.

Luckily, her savior was here...in the form of _abs._

"Oi, you guys are seriously slow," Aomine Daiki commented as the three finally reached the beach, only to find Aomine in swim trunks. Yes, _only_ swim trunks as his defined muscles rippled like waves with every movement.

...Okay perhaps that was an over-exaggeration but either way Akakibana felt as if she was about to faint from the amount of exposure her eyes were receiving. It was so much different from seeing pictures of shirtless guys tacked on Tomie's walls! They looked..._touchable. _Accidentally.

...Somehow she felt as if she was slowly turning into a fujoshi.

"Ah, Aominecchi!" Kise greeted brightly as Midorima only sighed further.

"Yo." Aomine returned with a slight yawn.

"I-it's been a while Aomine-kun," Akakibana bowed, peeling her eyes away from the sight.

...Hmm, was Akashi also dressed ilke that?

"Ah? Hey um..." Aomine squinted, as if trying to remember." Er...Akakiba- Kiba?" he frowned, recalling what Murasakibara once mentioned and how he immediately thought that was a pretty sweet name to have. (Kiba means fang ) "Yeah, Kiba!" He nodded, deciding not to spare anymore effort to remember.

She gaped at him, jaw hanging ajar. "E-eh?" She released...was that ridiculous nickname starting to stick?!

'Wait no, Aomine-kun my name is-"

"Who cares about that, let's just stick with Kiba," Aomine immediately refuted, as if he knew he was wrong before he slung an arm around Kise and went, "more importantly are you up for a match or something? I'm seriously getting bored."

Akakibana blinked. Wait, was he ignoring her?!

"Eh? Aominecchi, I thought today was our day to relax!" Kise countered but was already being dragged into his pace.

"So? Are you up for it or not?" Aomine pressed and the girl found the yellow and blue duo heading off somewhere down the road.

Akakibana blinked, slightly shocked to process properly.

Wait, wait, wait. What just happened to the guy who promised to give her guidance and advice?!

"W-wait K-kise-kun!" She hollered, causing the blond to tilt his head back, expression sheepish.

"Sorry Akakicchi! We'll be back in a few hours! Midorimacchi will take you to the lodge!" Was his parting words as he exclaimed, "hey then Aominecchi better show me that drive just a bit more slowly, I can definitely copy it then!"

...BASKETBALL IDIOTS!

Her hand dropped, hopes withering.

Midorima released a content sigh, probably glad the nuisance was gone.

Akakibana sighed, analyzing the situation. Well, logically, this was fine. Midorima was in fact better company in terms of inner peace if he kept his mouth shut.

Deciding to move on, she signalled Midorima for direction assistance as the bespectacled huffed and began walking her to the lodge.

She followed, before she recalled something unusual. As she thought, wasn't Aomine slightly different than before?

His eyes just then looked dulled, frustrated—no longer like those carefree and upbeat eyes she met at the festival.

"...Did something happen to Aomine-kun?" She blurted out curiously.

Midorima frowned.

She flinched. Did she say something wrong?

"Hmph, it seems you've managed to notice, unlike that idiot over there," Midorima murmured, clearly eyeing the all-too oblivious Kise.

"Eh? Notice what?" Akakibana frowned.

"It's nothing that concerns you; it's just a bit of misplaced passion, for a man too strong for his own good."

...She wondered if that was supposed to make sense.

It didn't.

That was what hurt Aomine Daiki the most.

But even this...was still slightly before Aomine Daiki "bloomed".

He had only one day left before he would taste true despair.

[=]

So the duo traversed up the winding side path through the nearby forest to reach their lodge, polished wood on top of a hill, one side filled with crumbling rocks and the other an open field of green.

Akakibana stared at in breathless awe. It seems the Shogi club funds were being put to pretty good use.

"Ah! Akaki-chan!" Momoi greeted the moment they entered the vicinity, only to find it mostly empty despite its numerous members. Akakibana was luckily briefed that as only the first-stringers were participating in the national tournament a day later, it was a special camp held just for them.

With today being the last day however, it seems that they managed to be graced from training to relax.

"It's been a while Momoi-san" she greeted, wondering where that nickname came about but had already long gotten used to such irregularities in her life.

"Yup! Too long in fact! I can't believe I didn't know that you were dating Akashi-kun!" She exclaimed, although mostly out of pride that her data was incomplete.

Akakibana squirmed. "A-aha, l-let's not talk about that right now," she dodged, for once perceiving the severely uncomfortable situation she would've found herself in.

Momoi tilted her head, quizzical. Perhaps the girl was simply being shy. After all, if it was her, she would use every chance she had to latch on to her significant other...and well, even if it was Akashi, that should've been fine.

"Oh don't be shy now Akaki-chan! In fact, Akashi-kun's just in the next room! You should greet him!" Momoi exclaimed, deciding that force was necessary as she took her hand and promptly dragged her over.

The girl widened her eyes."E-eh?! Wait!" She cried, stumbling after her. No, she wasn't prepared yet! This was the beach after all right?! Would've Akashi be dressed the same way as Aomine?!

Then...defined muscles of perfection?!

No, not yet, she wasn't ready to see that yet!

A wan visage framed by prominent cheekbones that lilted up to sharp and confident scarlet eyes soon reflected in her eyes as Akakibana found herself in the dining room, watching as Akashi slowly turned from his chair to meet the two while Midorima sighed and disappeared up the stairs.

The girl immediately glanced down at his torso...only to find him fully clothed in a t-shirt and beige khaki pants.

She immediately deflated.

"Hey Akashi-kun, Akaki-chan is finally here!" Momoi beamed brightly.

"Yes. Welcome, Inori," he greeted, removing himself from his seat.

Akakibana stared. Huh, he seemed to pay much more attention to her than before.

"Yes, it's been a while Akashi-kun, have you been doing well? I was surprised that I didn't see you at any tournaments this summer." She returned evenly, deciding she should work on starting non-awkward conversations with the teen.

What he said last time did bother her..._ a lot._

Akashi narrowed his eyes with a smirk. "You're surprisingly stable for once."

She flinched. HAH?!

Did he see through her?!

"Is that so?" She smiled, brows slightly furrowed for the perfect "feminine" counter she had always learned from her mother.

It was the first time she managed to act the way she did to every one else in front of the teen.

Her eyes curiously wondered how he would react.

Yet, what was reflected in those orbs was emptiness, lassitude.

She really flinched this time.

"Well then, Inori, as you've agreed to be our chef for tonight, please come this way to the kitchen. I need to go over the item placement with you." He instructed professionally.

"Yes." She nodded although truthfully, she felt a bit disheartened. It was her duty for sure but, Akashi really didn't say much to her at all. Even though they were supposedly dating, that wall was still there. Evidently there.

"Eh?! Wait, Akashi-kun, I won't be cooking tonight?" Momoi demanded in shock.

As of preempting this, Akashi immediately turned. "No, Satsuki. Tonight I still have some procedures to go over with you for tomorrow and I'd like you to focus on that." He stated.

Hopefully that erased the possibilities of corpses playing for tomorrow's tournament.

Akakibana sweatdropped. The way he worded it, it sounded like he actually had a lot of other work for her to do...which was probably true as well.

Yet, as Akakibana took one last glance at the girl, she noticed that her figure slightly slouched, losing that brimming confidence it always held. "O-oh is that so..." Momoi murmured in a manner unlike her usual self.

Akakibana frowned. Eh?

"...So I won't get to cook for Tetsu-kun..."

...Ah.

THIS GIRL LIKED KUROKO?!

She immediately grabbed Momoi's hand, startling the girl as Akashi turned, raising a brow.

"A-akashi-kun!" Akakibana exclaimed. "C-can Momoi-san help me after all? I know it's too much to ask but...err...because I'm incompetent, I don't think I can cook a _well-balanced _dinner for all the team members alone!" She stated, placing emphasis on the well-balanced part to hope he would get the hint that athletes should eat well before a match.

There was a moment of silence.

That smile resurfaced on the red-head's lips. "So you're admitting your incompetence already?"

She bit her lip. Oh shoot, she just lost her chance to look cool in front of these estranged geniuses!

"...Yes." She returned, slightly bitter.

Akashi smiled. "Then very well. Satsuki, you should help."

And then came the wails of the basketball players the two girls were unable to hear.

Akakibana merely sighed. Well, although there was the prospect of him showing her around _alone,_ she found that it was hard to readily leave Momoi.

She did understand the girl's sentiments after all. She was always particularly weak to empathy.

Besides, she doubted that anything would happen anyways.

Akashi Seijuro was just as always, calm, collected, and perfect.

His instructions were quick and precise. Their dinner would be curry, they would use the groceries Kuroko and Murasakibara would bring back, and make 25 servings due to the sheer amount _some _people could devour.

Akakibana kept note of this thoroughly.

Yet, this...was not what she expected. Although she was asked to come here to cook, it felt as if he was instructing a maid instead.

Her sullen expression was practically strewn on her face, something Momoi noticed instantly.

She curiously pursed her lips, as if contemplating something...before she smiled.

Well, this was her secret trump card but seeing that Akakibana _did_ help let her cook tonight, returning the favor seemed like a pretty good idea.

"Hey, Akashi-kun!" Momoi beamed.

"Yes?" the red-head answered.

"We're pretty much done here right?"

"Yes."

"...So can we go to the beach like we planned already?"

Akakibana stared at her, shocked at her audacity. She was so easily making a request to Akashi!

But, no, there was no way he was going to say yes right? He didn't look like an outdoorsy typ-

"Yes, let's. Tetsuya and Atsushi should be back soon and I had something planned there anyways." Akashi mused.

...WHAT?!

She sweatdropped.

She wondered if like Kuroko, Momoi Satsuki could also be considered a potential rival.

However, in hindsight, she made another grave error.

Although Kise Ryouta was a bundle of sunshine that easily sucked others into his pace, he wasn't very...reliable in relaying the whole of his information.

Or rather...Akakibana was a little too dense to understand.

In the girls room, she found herself staring at the busty figure of Momoi Satsuki in an aqua two-piece that most likely glorified her body by 1000x.

Akakibana gulped.

Kise told her to bring a swimsuit but, as she thought this was to be a training camp, she foolishly brought her school swimsuit...which was now really embarrassing to wear considering that she would have to stand beside _that_ as the only two girls in the whole camp.

"Eh? Akaki-chan, why aren't you changing?" Momoi quizzically asked.

She immediately shoved her swimsuit back into her bag.

"...Err sorry, it seems I forgot to bring one..." She lied, pretending to have never seen it at all.

"Eh! That's terrible Akaki-chan!" Momoi exclaimed. "Hey wait, I think a brought an extra one..." she continued, rummaging frantically through her things.

Akakibana widened her eyes.

"No you don't have to..."

"I DO! Summer is the best time for girls like us!" She cried, clearly referring to it being the time to challenge and hold love within their grasp.

Akakibana gulped...wow what was this feeling?

Momoi Satsuki...was so kind! SO MUCH KINDER THAN TOMIE!

...or not.

"...What is this?" Akakibana muttered, staring at the bikini she suddenly found herself in.

It was a striped red and white tube top held up by a ribbon up her neck and an extremely frilly two-layered bottom that only went down to mid-thigh.

Yet, although that bothered her greatly, the part that bothered her the _most_ was the chest.

IT WAS CLEARLY MEANT FOR A D CUP!

"Ah, Akaki-chan! Sorry, it seems the chest part doesn't fit!" Momoi exclaimed apologetically.

"N-no, it is your extra swimsuit after all Momoi-chan and you're..." she began, eyeing her chest, now covered by an aqua two-piece bikini. "very well...endowed."

""I'm really sorry! But...hey wait, do you want to try these on?" Momoi offered. Revealing a few pads.

Akakibana widened her eyes. "Wait, aren't those meant for stuffing your bra? Why do you have those?! You're already so...endowed!"

Surprisingly, Momoi seemed embarrassed, biting her lip. "Err well, I thought perhaps D wasn't enough I mean... Dai-chan told me all guys liked girls with big breasts so perhaps Tetsu-kun too..."

...Dai-chan? THIS WAS AOMINE DAIKI WASN'T IT?! Scum. Scum of the earth! Is he the reason why Akakibana had to be subjected to this torture of being an A cup?!

...No wait, did Akashi also prefer...suddenly those bra pads seemed much more appealing than for the mere use of making her swimsuit fit...

Akakibana Inori fell to the dark side.

"Sorry for the wait!" Momoi cried as the two girls headed down to the main floor to find both Midorima and Akashi waiting for them below...in _swim trunks._

Akakibana froze, taking the scene in before she mentally scowled.

If it wasn't for that _accursed _open hoodie, she swore she would've saw the bulk of Akashi's pearl-white skin!

However, Midorima also startled her. For someone so uptight about grades...he was severely defined. She honestly couldn't imagine him weight-lifting—at all.

...Wait did _Akashi _lift? That was even stranger!

Yet, it seems that while Akakibana was very discreetly eyeing Akashi, the teen was doing the same.

There was a clear frown.

She blinked.

"Eh? Hasn't Tetsu-kun come back yet?" Momoi suddenly asked, looking around. She really wanted to show off her new blue bikini.

"Ah, Tetsuya just returned with Atsushi. They'll be here so-"

"Sorry for the wait Akashi-kun." A voice flatly intoned.

Everyone turned, finding a wan boy with spiked powder blue hair and a slightly gaunt structure accompanied by a huge purple giant carrying a cradle of snacks.

"Ah, good afternoon Kuroko-kun and Murasakibara-kun," Akakibana gave a polite bow as the two, well Kuroko, returned it.

Murasakibara merely gave a slight wave of acknowledgement before he downed another snack from his stock.

Akashi smiled. "Well then, shall we go?"

[=]

The beach was not all that far from the camp. Yet, Akakibana could not deny how embarrassed she felt as she prodded down in her swimsuit, the two-piece embarrassingly exposing her belly.

She didn't bring things like hoodies because she wanted to dress nicely for the tournament but...she didn't expect to regret this decision this much.

She should've at least asked Momoi for one.

Slowly and surely however, they reached the beach.

"Tetsu-kun!" Momoi immediately exclaimed once they reached the vicinity.

"Eh? What is it Momoi-san?" Kuroko asked as the group all began to separate, each clearly attracted to different things.

"Um, this is kinda of embarrassing but if you're free, could you teach me how to swim?" she instigated hopefully.

Akakibana raised a brow. Was she trying to spend more time with him?

Was this what all girls did? Go on the attack instead of the other way around?

Well, Momoi's passive-aggressive personality_ did seem to work so..._

She bit her lip, shakily maneuvering towards Akashi in hopes of doing something similar. "Aka-"

"Ah, unfortunately I'm also unable to swim." Kuroko confessed.

Akakibana froze in her steps.

"And that is exactly why I shall be instructing you." Akashi pronounced.

"Eh, Akashi-kun is?!" Momoi gaped.

"Yes. Satsuki, you're free to join as well. It will be troublesome if we cannot perform any water trainig drills in the future," Akashi stated, already heading towards the water.

Akakibana secretly deflated.

Momoi contemplated this twist carefully. Her love life was at stake!

...Well, she wasn't _exactly _looking forward to having Akashi teach her but...this was a surefire chance of staying with Kuroko! At the beach!

"...Sorry Akaki-chan, but from here on, it's each woman to their own! _Love is war_" Momoi muttered, voice barely audible.

Akakibana squinted. "Eh? Momoi-san, did you say something?"

"Nothing~! Well see you later Akaki-chan!"

"...Wait."

Everyone froze. None could mistake that perfectly toned voice. "Inori, can you swim? If possible I want to ensure that all members here are able to, particularly at this age." Akashi professionally revealed.

Akakibana blinked. Wait...did this mean he wanted her to come?! WAS HE PERSONALLY INVITING HER?!

Well, she knew how to swim but how hard could it be to pretend she didn't?! "O-of course I can't-"

...She froze. Something around her chest felt slightly loose.

She slowly glanced down.

...IT WAS THE STUPID PADS.

NO. If she got into the water, there was a high chance that they might soak up like sponges and loosen...which would be the most devastating thing that could happen in her 16 years of life, particularly when Akashi was there.

"...Urm, no it's okay, I can swim but...I'm slightly anemic under the sun so...I'll just stay here." Akakibana muttered, crying on the inside.

IT WAS SUCH A GOOD CHANCE TOO.

Already wallowing in a hole of self-pity, she suddenly felt a familiar cool touch on her skin as she felt something being draped on her shoulders.

She blinked, turning to the side to find Akashi, yes, shirt off this time to her red-faced shock, giving her his hoodie.

"Then if you're staying here, I suggest you wear this. The winds in this area can easily cool the body." He calmly stated.

She stood there, still frozen, completely in shock...before she smiled, bright and painfully grateful. "Thank you, Akashi-kun!"

He paused, allowing a curt smile to spread across his lips. "Well then, let's go shall we?" He waved to Momoi and Kuroko, the pink-haired girl sending Akakibana a thumbs-up.

Akakibana couldn't wiped the grin off her face.

...What was with that kindness just now?...That was truly unfair...

"What are you standing there grinning like an idiot for?" A voice suddenly demanded, snapping her out of her blissful reverie.

"Oh, Midorima-kun!" She turned, recalling that there were two other members...before realizing that Murasakibara had already headed off to the snack stand...how many snacks did he intend to eat?!

Midorima on the other hand was on the ground, setting up the beach umbrella and recliner. "If you intend to stay here, I hope you intend to properly help with the setup as well Akakibana," Midorima intoned.

"Ah! Of course!" She cried, scrambling to get the rest of the things setup as the two finally finished and plopped down the two sunchairs.

"...But to think that you actually came," Midorima suddenly commented.

Akakibana stared quizzically at him, holding an open book.

"Eh? You mean to this camp?"

"Yes, and here I thought Kise was spouting nonsense again." Midorima replied. "I expected you to have more of a life."

She cringed. Well that was uncalled for.

"Well, hopefully me being here was a pleasant surprise?" The girl refuted, much more used to conversing with Midorima than before after learning that she could not take 90% of the demeaning things he said at face value.

"Hmm, not particularly."

She sweatdropped. Okay fine; it still kinda hurt.

"But Midorima-kun is also well acquainted with Kise-kun? You should've said something, I'm quite sure the girls in our class would've appreciated that." Akakibana continued, establishing more proper communication.

"_Unfortunately_ acquainted." Midorima corrected. "And that's all the more reason why I would want to stray from that bundle of irritation as far as possible."

Akakibana sweatdropped. Huh, considering how Aomine spoke very raucously to Kise and Momoi didn't care much about him the last time Akakibana saw the Generation of Miracles, she had a feeling Kise Ryouta wasn't appreciated much at all by them. Or well, he deserved none of the special treatment he received in school for sure.

Her eyes wandered to the bag at Midorima's feet. Inside, was a large swim ring bulging out of the bag. She blinked.

"Midorima-kun, you couldn't swim?" She questioned in surprise.

He frowned. "Hah? Of course I can."

"...Then what's this?"

"My lucky item. Why else would you think I would go all the way back to the city?" He scoffed.

"...Erm, to pick me up?"

"Naive."

"...I-I see..." Akakibana released before sighing. Augh, she had forgotten that dealing with Midorima took quite a lot of patience. Unfortunately she didn't have that so during the cultural festival preparations, she could only inwardly groan during each other their meetings.

But, instead of wanting to run as faraway as possible, she released a slight chuckle. Well, this was what made him Midorima Shintarou right?

"Pfft." She slightly sniggered, earning a questioning frown from the verdant teen. But...as it was Midorima-kun, the demeaning in every situation guy, Akakibana only laughed more.

"Akakibana, do quell my fears that even you are starting to become like one of the crazies I am forced to be acquainted with." Midorima frowned in disapproval.

Akakibana beamed. "Who knows?" She replied, vaguely resembling Akashi, much to his distaste. He never liked that part of him and seeing it emulated in her made it no better.

_"_Oh but, Midorima-kun are you reading the Ogura Hundred Poems collection for our summer write-up work?" Akakibana asked, eyeing the hardcover.

"Obviously. There are a hundred poems to remember and analyze because our literature teacher just so happened to be a karuta fanatic." Midorima sighed.

"Then, do you want to practice with me? We need to remember them all anyways." Akakibana intoned, eyes suddenly sparkling.

Midorima raised a brow. "What?"

"Let's play Karuta!"

And it so happened that Akakibana Inori held endearment towards all very old "old men" games, Shogi being the first and foremost. However, it turned out that even she had no clue how to play except that she brought cards from somewhere to use as flashcards for memorization.

In the end, the two ended up playing match-it. But nevertheless, it was fun.

From afar, as Momoi and Kuroko managed to reach the 25 m mark, Momoi turned back, amazed at her achievement. The sea was beautiful. The sky was a lucid blue, the sand a surreal white, and by the shoreline...was Midorima and Akakibana playing something?

She squinted, unable to figure out what they were doing as they both reached for something, slapping something, and Akakibana diving for something before excusing herself and probably apologizing for her unruly behavior.

But that wasn't what surprised her the most. "Huh...Midorin is getting along pretty well with Akaki-chan huh?" She blurted aloud.

Kuroko turned. "...Surprisingly he is. I'm glad Midorima-kun was able to find someone to relax with before our tournament."

Akashi stared at the sight. "...You're right."

"They do get along well."

[=]

The rest of the beach camp was very enjoyable. Soon the gang was joined by Aomine, Kise, and Murasakibara.

It wasn't long before the ever-ebullient Kise proposed to hold a beach volleyball tournament.

It was very amusing to watch if the team happened to consist of geniuses with various abilities.

Akakibana, Momoi, and Kuroko watched, deciding not to get in the line of fire due to Aomine whacking Midorima on the head with the ball, Midorima becoming extremely jocular that he missed Aomine's face and slammed the ball at full-power into Kise.

The sunshine boy gaped, sputtering something about his money-making face before his incessant string of complaints made blow, causing a complete bloodbath to occur on the field.

The bystanders were soon joined by a yawning Murasakibara, too lazy to bother with sucha sport.

It was only until the ball hit and spun the Umaibo out of his hand that he joined in on the rage.

It was a terrifying sight to see.

Akakibana sweatdropped.

In the end, even those geniuses were middle schoolers eh?

Yet, there was one surprise that she didn't account for at all. In fact, it was so expository that she didn't know how to react whatsoever.

It was the afternoon.

She and Akashi decided to head back first to the lodge through the shortcut, a small path in the woods.

Yet instead of walking like she should've been, she was on the ground, her black hair a tangled mess amongst the leaves and dirt mingled within.

Her head throbbed with pain and her back seemed to have contacted a rock.

However, surprisingly, that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was that though her lips were bleeding and cut, they were pressed against another's, the soft organ leaving a strange sensation on her lips.

She couldn't tell if it was the blood...or because...well, erm...she was kinda having her first kiss in an extremely awkward position.

Yet, she couldn't even at least look flustered.

How could she?

Her golden irises stared into the scarlet ones less than a few centimeters away.

Akashi stared back at her, eyes slightly a little too wide to be called "shocked from embarrassment".

They looked rather terrifying.

Akakibana wondered how she got herself into this mess.

Oh right,_ Kise._

_She swore she was never letting herself be affected by rays of sunshines ever again._

* * *

**OMAKE FOR FLOOF:**

"Everyonee! If we're at the beach, we have to play wack-a-watermelon!" Kise exclaimed.

The members raised their brows.

"Hah? Do we even have a watermelon?" Aomine frowned.

"...Ah, if it's that, we don't. But I do have an alternative." Akashi offered, making something in the sand before promptly removing himself, revealing a verdant head stuck in the sand.

"Shall we play whack-a-Midorima?"

Midorima snapped. "AKASHIIIIII!"

(you may interpret this as Akashi getting jealous if you so choose *wink winnk*)

* * *

**And that is the end of this chapter. I did my best to incorporate everyone's huge bundle of ideas of things you'd like to see happen at the beach/camp! But even to me, this feels...kinda odd. Like there were too many ideas incorporated into one that it made things pretty hard to follow.  
**

**If you feel that way too, do tell me where and I shall do my best to fix it! (cuz I'm really picky abt chapter quality /shot/)**

**Oh and PS. Next chapter is the last chapter of summer, i don't think it'll be pretty when Aomine utters his famous lines at the national tournament *hint hint***


	14. 夏：Season of Miracles

**Ending edited.**

* * *

**夏：****Season of Miracles**

"Hey Akakicchi!" A distressed voice released while the others were busying themselves "playing", namely, Midorima still attempting to murder Aomine with a volleyball while the rest cheered much to the tanned ace's distress.

Akakibana was simply slowly removing herself from the scene, hoping to not be recognized as one of the crazies before she was unfortunately caught but a blond ray of sun.

"E-Eh? What's wrong Kise-kun?" She mumbled warily, startled from being suddenly called out amidst the chaos.

"What do you mean what's wrong? I said I'd help you with Akashicchi right? How did it go so far?" Kise intoned brightly, although in truth he have completely forgotten about it and only remembered after becoming bored of their current Aomine bashing activity and having his 5-year old attention span unintentionally wander over to Akakibana.

The girl however, was very unaware. She squinted, attempting to see past whatever facade he may have placed on but saw nothing that betrayed that nose-bleed inducing expression. She idiotically lowered her guard once again.

"Urm...okay I guess?"

"...Do you need me to help lock you guys up in a storage room?"

She jerked up. "WHAT?!"

Kise blinked, eyes innocent as ever despite the incredible suggestion that slipped out his mouth.

"Ah, so are you familiar with that after all? A fellow model I know is really into shoujo manga so she was giving me all these scenarios!" He rambled while Akakibana gaped at him incredulously.

The storage room? The one Tomie described as "suddenly, when you two are locked in darkness, robbed of sight except for a small window, you will support the other, the physical contact exhilarating but purposely ignored, in attempt to reach that light and seek help..._but._ You will fail and land helplessly on each other, the adrenaline from your efforts slowly..._warping_ into—"

Akakibana tuned out. NO. JUST NO.

"N-no! Nope, no storage locking and no shoujo manga okay?! There's a fine line between reality and fantasy!" She immediately rejected, terrified that he was well on his way to becoming a second Tomie Yuu.

"Ehhh? But the storage one sounds like it would actually work with Akashicchi? I mean, with Akashicchi, it's important to just have one-on-one talks." Kise murmured before Akakibana went into shock.

Wait... that suggestion was actually very well thought out and..._sensible_...which meant she was the one who thought of something completely tainted and wrong!

She gaped at him, now terribly sheepish for misreading his character, uttering out an inaudible but tearful apology to the male who only tilted his head quizically.

"Eh? What's wrong Akakicchi?" He innocently asked as she withered a bit more inside.

"N-no, nothing at all Kise-kun..." but he didn't seem to be paying much attention.

"Well, if that's a no go then, hmm, how about, a special charm?" He began, now with a sly grin.

"E-eh?" She released amazed by how quickly his mind would wander.

"Well, you see the forest on our way to the lodge? Apparently Momoicchi's data said that somewhere in that area lies a small shrine and it's said that if a couple kisses there, their love will be eternal...that type of thing."

She paused before answering. "...But, ghosts and gods don't exist." She flatly retorts, flaunting her atheist beliefs.

"...But Kurokocchi exists." Kise attuned.

She paused.

"...That's certainly true...WAIT HOW WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE REMOTELY CONVINCING?!" She cried, realizing she nearly fell for the ploy as Kise released a cheeky grin.

"Heh~ but fine, that might not be true but there's nothing wrong with giving it a try besides, Midorimacchi you see, always believes in fate and carries his lucky item around. And see? Since joining the club Midorimacchi never missed a shot once!" He exclaimed, impressing her with her worse subject: actually getting the ball into the hoop.

She frowned, certainly she could not deny she felt something magical behind Midorima's shot but that was no reason for her to be convinced.

Kise caught this, evidently sighing...before the same sly.

smirk, now somewhat dangerous curled around his lips. "Then I have no choice but to show you this..."

"Eh?"

Kise grinned, sunshine beam at max. "Eh?! Akakicchi, you're going back to the lodge to cook already?!" He cried, loud enough for the whole group to turn face.

She gaped at him in sheer confusion. What?

"Eh you're leaving already Akaki-chan?" Momoi added as Akakibana became more dumbfounded than ever.

"...Yes?"

"Ah but it's dark in the forest and you're also new so someone should go with you!" The blond continued loudly. "I'll-"

"I'll take her back." An autocratic voice interrupted Akakibana dropping her gaze and honing in on...Akashi?

She blinked. Did he just-?

"I'll take her back." He repeated, voice even as ever. "I planned to leave early as well after all."

Akakibana turned to Kise for answers only receiving a secretive smirk as the blond leaned in close, lips nearly to her ear.

"When Momoicchi told me about the shrine, Akashicchi was also there." He whispered, husky voice seeping into her ear.

She blinked.

"Let's go Inori." Akashi intoned, her body automatically complying.

Her brain was too fried to function after all.

Didn't this mean..._Akashi had a hidden agenda as well?!_

[=]

Awkward walks in the forest were not her forte, particularly when the awkwardness stemmed from silence as the two crunched down onto the gravel, hearing the sound of birds as they trudged on, Akashi in front and Akakibana—a nervous wreck behind.

Damn that blond ray of sunshine! Why was he being so secretive at the most important time! Exactly how did Akashi feel about her, why did he stop halfway and never told her what that meant?!

Akashi knew about the shrine?!

WHAT DID HE MEAN BY THAT?!

Did it mean...that if, he purposely went here, _alone_ with her he was planning to—NO

NO NO NO NO that was not happening, it was impossible for that to happen!

But wait, did she needed to prepare her lips or something if that did?! Did she need to wear lip balm or something, fruit-scented ones?!

What would normal girls do in this situation?!

WHY WAS BEING A GIRL SUCH A PAIN?!

Despite her internal monologue of screams, however, the girl looked quite calm on the outside, not revealing a shred of her bubbling emotions with the exception of a slight twitch here or there. Ultimately however, it was all a lie, she didn't even notice that Akashi had stopped before she crashed into that broad back.

"Inori?" Akash frowned, scarlet turning to reveal an ivory-stoned mask.

She lept back, embarrassed. "S-sorry!" She exclaimed. "I...kind of spaced out." She confessed, blurting everything out without particular consideration.

Akashi raised a brow.

He was judging her again wasn't he?!

"Urm, what about Akashi-kun? Why did you stop? The ebony-haired youth asked, immediately dodging the subject.

Apparently it worked. "Ah...I thought I saw signs of a shrine below."

Akakibana promptly choked. "S-SHRINE?!" She gaped.

THE KISSING SHRINE?!

Wait if Akashi was looking for it then—

Before she could utter another word, she found herself inches away from the teen, scarlet eyes seeping into hers, breath mingling inside her comfort zone, shattering it effortlessly.

He had moved in..._much _too close to her and with their height difference, Akakibana found herself easily staring at his _lips._

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT. WHAT WAS HAPPENING HERE?!

The lips parted. "Are you sure you're alright Inori, you've been acting strangely since you've spoken to Ryouta."

Yet, his words were wasted on her, _completely._

All she could see were dizzying lips, churning her mind into a maddened beet-red mess until a hand pressed itself against her forehead.

Something called sanity promptly snapped.

She screamed, leaping back enough to impress Tomie with her PE long jump score yet failing due to promptly losing traction and slipping off the road and causing her body to fall with her, aiming at the slope below.

Her eyes widened in surprise, only managing to process what was happening and not quick enough to provide a solution, before a hand caught hers, Akashi's to be exact as those golden irises met with unexpectedly determined red.

Yet, due to the lack of traction and the sloping gravel, both fell, with a resounding remark of, "...ah, heavy."

...WHAT?!

And so, it seemed the accursed "shrine" did provide some romantic blessing, although in the form of two people unfortunately cut and bruised that fell on top of each other.

The crushing weight of him above her only made her think of one thing, AKASHI WAS HEAVY TOO!

This was completely not just because she was heavy!

Until of course, something warm and moist pressed upon her lips, an iron taste seeping into her tongue, before completing the ridiculously awkward position Akakibana found herself in.

Her eyes stared at Akashi's. He stared back, eyes widened in surprise...with a hint of terrifying anger.

It was enough for her to forget said position counted as a kiss.

Instead she found it almost second-nature for her to ask why and so she did...but that didn't work particularly well when one's lips were pressed onto something. In fact, it only caused friction against her cut lip, she flinching in pain.

He immediately released himself, expression reverting to stone as he got up from said position before asking, "are you alright?" In a truly professional tone, as if this whole fiasco had been for CPR or the like.

"Y-yes." She confirmed...before gaping at the cuts she located on his _perfect_ face. "No wait Akashi-kun are YOU okay?!" She immediately demanded, hands throwing themselves up and clasping at his face, she scrutinizing every detail of horror she caused him.

He slightly flinched, surprised by her advance before her face scrunched up sourly, groaning at the mess she had caused. "Ahh! And you have your national tournament tomorrow too!" She scowled, ruining whatever image he had left of a docile girl.

He paused at this, before a faint smile tugged at his lips. Or at least, as close to a smile he ever bothered to manage. "It's fine. Luckily I don't seem to have injured anything that would hinder my performance, although the same may not be said for you." He frowned, turning back to the precious question.

She immediately dropped her hands, waving them in denial. "No, it's alright I'm fine for the most part as well!" She cried, glad that she was wearing his shirt. It helped her cover a lot of the fall. Of course, Akashi apparently brought a spare so even he was fine.

He nodded. "Then this seems to be the main issue..."He continued, upturning his head to the path above. "getting back there."

Akakibana frowned, staring at the ledge before she uttered, "...impossible." There was nothing that coul remotely help them up from such a slope. They needed someone pulling from above.

"I'm glad you could see through that." Akashi nodded as she turned to the sound of his voice...only to see him on his phone...even though they were in the mountains?!

"Yes. Please do, Shintarou." He said before flipping it off, Akakibana gaping at him the whole time.

...IT WAS THAT PHONE WITH THE STUPIDLY GOOD RECEPTION AGAIN WASN'T IT?!

Although Akakibana had to admit, in this case, it was _very _handy.

"Well then Inori, it seems we have some time on our hands. They'll be here in around 15 minutes."

"O-okay." She nodded before once again, an awkward silence settled between them, the two sitting at least 2 meters apart.

She grimaced, cursing the unsettling atmosphere before she suddenly recalled Kise's words. Ah. Right.

They were finally alone, exactly as she wanted.

She clenched her fists, gathering her courage as her eyes darted up, scanning around for something to talk about before very faintly, she caught a glimpse of carved wood.

"Ah, the shrine." She blurted.

Akashi turned. "So we fell all the way here after all," he commented flatly.

"...It seems so." She returned, although slightly preoccupied by how technically, they _kissed_ in front of the shrine, a charm for eternal love.

However, considering his reactions, it became clear that he was not making any of the romantic connotations that filled her brain...slightly to her disappointment.

So Kise was playing with her after all.

"But...did this happen to be the object or you obsession this time round?" That crisp voice suddenly asked.

Akakibana blinked. "Eh? You mean the shrine?"

Akashi nodded. "Yes, as most likely...you've been preoccupied with that love charm Satsuki spoke of this whole time...correct?" He deciphered with a predatory smirk.

She immediately flinched. Completely caught of guard. "W-wha!"

So he thought about that after all?!

"N-no! W-well yes but...s-still!" She incoherently fumbled.

"So I was right."

She grimaced, face a beet red mess but, considering how there were numerous times such embarrassment fell on her before, ever so slightly she gained a bit of immunity. "W-well what about Akashi-kun then? Y-you clearly knew about it but didn't say a thing! D-did you consider how worried I was?!"

Akashi smiled. "Well then, conversly, would it have been normal for a conversation to begin about a god of love residing on this mountain?" He challenged.

She cringed. Okay, that didn't sound right either but, no, she was not going to be hopelessly embarrassed again. "W-well even so!" She cried, attempting to come up with an excuse before a connection was made, something that shocked even herself.

She froze.

Akashi quizzically stared back before in a relatively small voice, she muttered, "even so...I'd rather speak about that than say nothing to you at all. W-we...haven't spoken much at all.." the girl continued, hesitation evident in her voice as she spilled out the words she had always been meaning to say.

The disappointment. The longing.

Everything.

The red-head stopped, contemplating as words seeped out of him, in a softer tone. "Was that all you wanted this whole time?"

Akakibana turned, surprised that he was listening before she slowly nodded, cautious.

He sighed. "Then, shall we start?"

She blinked. "Eh?"

"We have 10 minutes left." He stated, displaying his phone to her, showing a simple timer. "What did you want to say? Tell me, _everything._"

She blinked, before finally, the girl smiled.

"How did swimming go?"

"It went fine."

"Did Kuroko-kun and Momoi-san learn to swim?"

"The two took a while but they have the basics down now. Next time, I plan to show them how to deal with ocean currents."

"Did a mishap occur?"

"Just a bit. Tetsuya relaxed and drifted a bit farther than intended. How about you?"

"Eh?"

"While you were on the beach with Shintarou."

"Oh! we..."

Unfortunately, their conversation did not manage to last even 10 minutes. It was a quite general Question and Answer session after all but unfortunately, with such limited time, Akakibana didn't dare go any deeper.

They had finally run out of things to talk about. There were still 2 minutes left. "Akashi-kun, so you aren't much of a romanticist at all?" Akakibana blurted, now feeling slightly dizzy for some reason.

It might've been how cold it was under the shade but slowly, her head began to feel light, losing control of her words.

"...If you're talking about the shrine, no I'm not but overall, you don't seem to display signs of that either."

"Eh? Really?" she frowned, puzzled. She was always the one so muddled over about love!

"Yes really...unless this doesn't happen to be your first romantic encounter." Akashi continued, choosing his words.

Akakibana squinted. Romantic encounter? What did that even mean—oh. Was he talking about the kiss?

"...Ah." She blurted before a sheepish smile crossed her face. "I think...that may be because I'm too much of a romanticist."

"Hmm?"

"After all, I think, if it's done without any emotions, it doesn't count. Like the way CPR would not count. A kiss should be different than a brush of the lips right?" She said with a cheeky smile.

"...Is that so?"

Akakibana nodded.

"But, that doesn't mean you weren't disappointed does it?"

She froze. "Eh?"

Akashi smiled, getting up and walking over to her, eliminating the distance between them. "Inori, do you believe in the occult?"

"...N-no? I mean, magic doesn't exist,"

"...Then would you want it to?" He instigated.

"U-urm...is this about the shrine?" She uncertainly returned, attempting to dodge the question.

"Answer."

She flinched. "W-well magic in general wouldn't be bad..."

"I see,"

She frowned, surprised by how curt his reply was.

"...What are you getting with this?"

Akashi paused." Not much...I simply supposed something magical could happen here."

And like so, he pressed his lips against hers, a short yet firm kiss filled with emotion, so much foreign emotion.

Immediately, the timer beeped, sound echoing into the forest.

Akakibana gazed back like a deer in headlights, too shocked to react.

Akashi smirked, "would _that_ be considered a first kiss?"

She rapidly nodded.

From afar, the sound of voices called out to them.

The two were promptly pulled back up by colorful basketball players.

Akakibana could only think of one thing: HE KISSED HER.

HE KISSED HER IN FRONT OF THAT SHRINE.

THAT MEANT HE LIKED HER BACK DIDN'T IT?!

[=]

Everything went well afterwards. The evening was quite fun as the group began bantering over food porportions, wreaking havoc inside the lodge once more. By this time, Akakibana was used to it and simply enjoyed the show displayed. Due to their early tournament schedule, the gang had to retire to bed at 10, the boys and the girls separating themselves as they all dimmed the lights.

However, due to Aomine and Murasakibara having lost some kind of game today, they were forced to accompany Akashi to the storage room, where they would tidy up some equipment they used over the week, leaving Kuroko, Kise, and Midorima to their shared room, lining up the futons along the tatami.

"Ah, today was so tiring," Kise sighed, flopping onto one as the other two gathered their things.

"Kise-kun, we didn't even have training today," Kuroko noted blankly.

"I know but this morning Aominecchi forced me to play and stuff and then, I had to go and get the rope and everything to hull Akakicchi up!" he grumbled.

"Kise-kun you shouldn't so bluntly imply that a girl is heavy."

"But she was!" He pouted before turning an accusing eye at Midorima. "Besides, Midorimacchi, you were the one who was supposed to help her up!" he declared, recalling that for some reason, Midorima had flushed red and tossed the whole job to Kise without a word.

"Hmph, there was no way I'd go that far as due to the angle, I would've most likely hurt my arm for tomorrow's game."

'And it's right for me to hurt mine?!" Kise retorted.

Of course, that was clearly an excuse and as usual, Midorima's true intentions were quite easily detected by Kuroko. "...Akakibana-san seemed to be getting along with Akashi-kun much better than before." He instigated.

Midorima immediately flushed. Kuroko raised a brow...so that was what happened. He probably _saw_ something.

Yet, Kise didn't seem to notice this change, in fact, he suddenly seemed too giddy for his own good. "Right?! Oh I am so glad my plan actually worked for them!" He beamed, proud of his ploy. See, he could _so_ plan strategically if needed!

"Oh then so Kise-kun was the reason that happened..." Kuroko quickly caught on, eyes veering on accusing.

Immediately, Kise sweatdropped. "Urk...erm I didn't think they would actually _fall_ from there but...h-hey! In the end, Akakicchi seemed to treat Akashicchi a lot more different from before. Their relationship doesn't seem all that shallow anymore!"

Kuroko froze. "Eh? Shallow?"

Kise paused. "Ah! I didn't tell you guys before but I met Akakicchi once outside and...although she's a nice girl, at that time I thought she was really shallow, just like the girls I dated before!"

"...Kise-kun if you're here to boast about your girlfriends please stop."

"Ehhh?! But I'm not happy about them!"

Midorima wondered if he could drown Kise into the sea. They didn't need an extra member anyways, particularly one so irritating.

Kuroko on the other hand, seemed to have developed some acceptance. "Then Akakibana-san was the same?"

"Oh, yup because when I asked her why she liked Akashicchi, her answer sounded as if she thought of him as a prince on a white horse, ready to whisk her away," Kise explained, expressing that unease he felt at the time.

Midorima scrunched up his nose. "Hah? Akashi a prince? Has her eyes gone blind?"

"Well, Akashicchi is rich like one,"

"Midorima-kun is rich like one too but I think he would make a terrible prince." Kuroko blankly interjected.

"Oi!" Midorima cried.

"...Well I think I'd make a wonderful prince-"

"Die Kise." The shooting guard scowled.

"MEAN!" Kise tearfully interjected before the two began a mini-banter of their own.

Kuroko stared at this, deciding to only fuel the fire when required when something interesting surfaced in his mind.

"Um, Kise-kun, you said to Akakibana-san, Akashi-kun was like a prince right? One that could whisk her away?"

"Eh? Yeah. What about it?"

"What does being whisked away mean?"

"Huh?" Kise blinked, idioms were not her forte.

"...Obviously it relates to suddenly leaving a place, without returning." Midorima explained.

Kuroko nodded. "And by 'wanting' that, it sounds as if a person wants to run away."

Kise widened his eyes. "...Then you're saying Akakicchi thought of Akashicchi as an excuse to run away?"

Kuroko nodded.

"Eh? Then, does it mean she never liked Akashicchi after all?!"

Kuroko paused. "...That, wasn't exactly what I was going for..."

"Eh?!"

Yet, for once, Midorima knew as flashes of that girl's expression, the dulled, and listless ones he saw at the festival resurfaced in his mind. "This is why you're no good Kise." Midorima declared.

"Hah?! Midorimacchi what's the supposed to mean?!" Kise cried, offended.

However, Midorima ignored him. "Obviously, the question here is not whether she holds romantic interests in him or not but rather...what is she running _from_? And why, out of all these _sane_ Teiko students, would she choose Akashi as her...ahem, _prince._"

"...I think she has been running away from Akashi-kun." Kuroko revealed.

Kise gaped in confusion. "HAH?!"

"As do I." Midorima agreed, leaving Kise more distressed.

"WAIT, WHY?!"

[=]

With a content sigh, Akakibana Inori got off the bus, stretching her arms out the next day, feeling the refreshing breeze of the wind.

Unfortunately, she could not attend the national basketball tounrament taking place in Saitama as she had already promised Tomie prior that she would be meeting up with her friend at it's downtown. Apparently, Tomie's boyfriend, in which she revealed to be in a long-distance relationship with was finally in a close enough area for the two to meet and surprisingly, Tomie actually wanted Akakibana to _meet _him.

She disliked the thought of being a third wheel but, she could not pass up the chance to see who this guy was and perhaps put him on her permanent blacklist for always interrupting her prized time with Tomie with phone calls that lasted hours as of late.

She strode down the street, soon seeing the plaza where they promised to meet. Someone was already there; a male.

She breathed and then relaxed, telling herself to leave a good enough impression to make Tomie happy.

Surprisingly, she caught the sight of geese above, flying in a familiar "V". Huh, was fall nearing already? It was strange to see the birds migrate so early.

It was strange but, she was right. At least, metaphorically, summer, the season of miracles was ending.

A few 10s of kilometers away, a match was taking place.

It was the national tournament, filled with the roaring cheers of crowds.

Aomine Daiki stood, exhilarated, adrenaline rushing as he got ready, planned to play all-out—before time froze as he sped past them all.

No one guarded him, no one had the spirit to.

He went past them, eyes widened in horror as he went in, dunk after dunk, against people, people he once admired and always wanted to play against.

...No, people?

Heh, that was wrong.

They weren't people, they were empty shells, spirits hollowed out by the overwhelming light that scorched through their bones, invalidating everything they loved about the game.

"_...Like hell can we win__, not against this __**monster**__."_

The light was a monster, devouring all. Aomine was the monster...he could finally see that.

That even though, all he wanted was to play basketball, have fun, this small wish of his was ruining everyone else.

So he quit.

He quit.

"_...The only one who can beat me, is __**me!**_"

"...Eh?" Kuroko blinked, fist outstretched.

But Aomine never replied. He merely played, now expressing the brunt of his overwhelming talent that he had always subconciously held back before. There was no need to hold back anymore. Either way, everyone sucked.

Aomine had no hopes left and like so, with his overwhelming play, he realized he no longer needed a shadow either.

All by himself, he could win.

All by himself...

He laughed. He truly was a monster.

And that day, he abandoned Kuroko.

The season of miracles was over.

The magic had come undone.

Ironically, it was the same for Akakibana.

Under the scorching sun, she could see the male's face clearly, _too _clearly. He was much more than just Tomie Yuu's boyfriend.

With hair of a familiar scarlet, the male waved, a nice and bright grin across his face.

Yet, such a greeting was not refuted.

Akakibana immediately widened her eyes, frozen in place as slowly, her hands began to shake.

"Y-you!" She stuttered, dropping all formalities as the male tilted his head to the side, amused.

"Is that any way to greet your cousin, Inori?" The teen playfully frowned, scarlet fringe parted to the side, revealing two golden orbs beneath his black half-rimmed glasses.

She immediately bit her lip, shock soon morphing into anger as the clenched her fists against her suitcase handle, hard enough to invoke searing pain.

However, she didn't seem to care, in fact, that was the least important thing that could possibly have been on her mind. "...Although it was out of line for me to speak so informally, I don't see the problem when it comes to you Kazuki-san." She seethed, each word brimming with poisonous malice, one so unlike her normally well-mannered personality in every way.

Yet, her cousin barely batted an eye. To him, it was exactly what he expected. He smiled. "Kazuki-san? What happened to the lovely name of Kazu-nii?" He instigated, as her expression retorted with sheer disgust.

"Why are you even here? You...you should've been all the way in Kyoto!" She cried.

"Hmm? Why can't I be here? It's summer after all. School's gonna start in a few weeks but, oi, is your head empty as usual Inori?" He asked, nonchalantly, tipping the side of his head with his finger to demonstrate.

She flinched.

He narrowed his eyes. "As usual, you're truly an ignorant fool. Is that really the question you should be asking me now or...are you once again, just like before, too afraid to confirm anything?" He sighed, voice turning dark, threatening as the girl cringed, her hands shaking once more.

Not just in anger, but also fear, fear of those eyes that tormented her from long ago.

They were deep and conniving, twisted and menacing but nevertheless, they were always acute, as if staring daggers right into her soul.

A lump formed in her throat, heavier than anything she had felt before as realization finally dawned on her.

No, that was wrong. She knew of it the moment she saw him there...why _he _was there.

"...Are you...Tomie-san's...boyfriend?" She released in disbelief.

He beamed. "Well, it seems your head isn't as rock hard as I thought. You're right, and of course I would come...just to meet by girlfriend's _best friend_."

Akakibana blinked, tuning everything out.

Ah.

Best friend? Heh. No, from this, it was clear there was never any friendship between them from the beginning.

She was betrayed from the very beginning.

Slowly, her shoulders relaxed, the tightened grip now limp as her eyes glassed over.

She parted her lips.

"Hah? You're in high school aren't you? Are you a lolicon?" She flatly commented, golden eyes no longer reflecting a thing. No fear, no hope, no despair. Those eyes tuned anything and everything out.

Kazuki paused, surprised by the sudden contrast, before that ever-snickering smile resurfaced. The bespectacled male grinned.

"And you? It seems you've found yourself something even worse...and by your own will in fact. I wasn't aware that my cute little cousin would turn out to be such a masochist...although it did seem as though you enjoyed it whenever we 'played' together as children," he smirked.

Akakibana's expression stayed flat. "If you call bullying a child two years younger than you 'playing', it seems your head is far more messed up than mine." She expressed, the surpressed honesty behind all her retorts tumbling out of her mouth.

If it was him, she needed to show no restraint. Why bother? Or else...she'd lose.

Kazuki merely tilted his head. "Oh that's not entirely true...Akashi Seijuro wasn't it? The boy you're supposedly dating."

"...What of it?"

Kazuki paused, again contemplating her idiocy. "You...really are brain dead aren't you? To not know what kind of masochistic idea this was. After all, he's the one you've been hating all your life, isn't that right, Inori?" He breezily expressed.

Akakibana frowned. "What are you even talking about? Me, hate Akashi-kun?" She scoffed with a short laugh, as if it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

Yet, the red-head wasn't even slightly fazed...he only continued to stare, eyes slowly growing dulled as they bore a hole through her, as if they were gazing and crushing her very soul...just like Akashi Seijuro himself. "Of course you do and it's not even something you can deny. I know...I know everything about how you truly feel...because it's so easy to see through your petty and shallow soul." He concluded, eyes finally reflecting disgust, as if he was seeing nothing but dirt.

Akakibana flinched, entrapped by those judging eyes.

Ah.

Again.

Again, someone was telling her how she felt, about how she truly felt.

And again, she couldn't deny it. Just like before, the unease she felt during spring resurfaced, bubbling up her throat, threatening to pour.

Akashi Seijuro? Tomie...Yuu?

Before Akakibana Kazuki, everything was invalid.

He was right.

Her soul was nothing but tainted black.

* * *

_"Summer was fun."_

_"It was supposed to be."_

_"But, it is also said that fun is but an illusion, an escape."_

_"Believing that things were fine,"_

_"everything was okay."_

_"All these things were but a lie."_

_"And as the birds migrate from their paradise of summer,"_

_"they are forced to return to the cage of autumn,"_

_"strewn a deceivingly passionate red."_

_"The season was short."_

_"The miracle was over."_

_"I'm sorry."_

_"Those were the only words the fallen birds could utter."_

_Summer- Track B_

_End._

* * *

And here is to the kind anon-san:

Anonymous

I'll probably be offending other readers, but I felt the need to mention this to the author.

Personally, I felt that this "Author Explains" segment was unnecessary. Not in the rude "wow you have you explain your logic to justify your writing" but because I felt that all the mystery you foreshadowed was great as it was. Reading the chapters up to this point, I felt that you inferred a deeper meaning in Inori's interest in Akashi and vice versa. We still don't know Akashi's intentions/reasoning of why he agreed to date Inori and during the Kise segments, I felt that you successfully implied a certain shallowness in Inori and Akashi's relationship.

Even with chapter 13, I felt as though the ending was fine before the revision - we stumble upon a scene where Akashi and Inori shared an accidental kiss from falling. Your writing certainly gave this scene away so I'm not sure how other readers missed it. Maybe it's just me (or maybe other ghost readers might feel this way too) but I think you're doing fine with foreshadow/implications so you shouldn't feel discouraged nor feel the need to reply to those questions with direct answers. It's our job as readers to try to unravel the mystery as the story goes along and understand what's going on instead of relying on the author so much. It just weakens the plot/mystery of the story to have a chapter like this when you could keep the reader hanging as you progressively explore the themes and questions you've set up in further chapters.

Sorry if I have offended other readers, but I don't want to see a promising writer (and one who writes one of the best OC stories in the KuroBasu category) being dragged down and resorting to having to explain her own story like this.

**Thank you so much. Really, thank you so much for believing that I am doing a good job the way it is. This just means so much to me that I just had to reply as soon as I could. Thank you for supporting this story, thank you for supporting my plot. I am so glad the way I'm writing and presenting my ideas has been praised because I haven't really heard that from someone before for this fic. **

**Of course, to the rest of my readers, I'm wondering if it's okay to push this whim onto you, to leave you mind-boggled and confused because I think with this, I do want to write this story MY way, the cryptic yet crafty way as from here on, I don't feel as though I'll hesitate again with the story plot I have come up with since Christmas. **

**Sorry for selfishly imposing on you all once again but I hope even if you do get confused at times, you will continue to follow this because I promise, everything WILL make sense.**

**Thank you so much Anon-san. Really. Luckily, as for the things I revealed, they were only the tip of the iceberg for the rest of the mystery ;) I still have a lot more to play around with than that! Hopefully, you'll all stay around for it!**

**Truly, thank you so much! **


	15. 秋：Unprecedented Strength

At first, I wasn't going to update but, in the end, I felt compelled to because I was having writer's block (AKAKURO MUST BE PERFECT. OR. ELSE.) with my other fics and hey, I should at least update _something_.

Thank you for the review, **My Shapeless Heart,**

I'm also glad you enjoyed the natural mystery here and there and liked it for the way it was. I don't know why but many people have told me they missed some parts so my insecurity may have stemmed from there.

But no worries, the mysteries have not all been revealed ;D In fact,I decided to present you guys with some more mystery for pondering XD

This fic _was_ supposed to be a mystery fic but turned REALLY fluffy because I'm following the symbolism of the seasons. But...not any moreeeee~

And to** Lady Kururu,**

Thank you for pointing out your complaints with this fic. I'm sorry, that you're most likely annoyed by how Akakibana's personality is still not clear and I'm sorry Chapter 13 wasn't good enough and the supposed kiss scene was done poorly because it was anticlimactic. But unlike before, I won't change anything and hope you'll have faith in my capabilities as a writer to tie everything together instead. :) Sorry for the slight hypocrisy but I'm finally made up my mind. Thank you very much. :D

also to **animelover1990**, I AM DEFINITELY GONNA REPLY BECAUSE OMG I FINALLY FINISHED ALL THE FICS YOU RECOMMENDED TO ME AND I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF RESPONSE SO FAR ON MY PART (bangs head on floor in apology)

* * *

_'"Fall-the leaves start tumbling down,_

_peeling away at summer's facade._

_Autumn was the beginning_

_of reality...for you and for me._

_But, anarchy is broken, rules_

_are upheld and suddenly, you are just_

_so, so..._

_far away."_

_Fall-Track A._

_Start._

* * *

**秋：Unprecedented Strength**

"...Hah?" Kazuki was by nature, quite a patient person yet, there was no one that could make him supersede his tolerance in a matter of seconds but his cousin, his pitiful, weak, and irritating cousin before him.

"...You're right...Kazuki-san has always been right. Mhm. I am shallow, I am brain-dead, I am everything you said I am." the ebony-haired girl mumbled, golden eyes looking back at him compliance, acquiscently following his statements without even a single retort.

He wrinkled his nose in disbelief.

_..This girl!_

In an instant the gap between them had closed as the male harshly grabbed her by the collar and pulled her forward.

She looked bewildered.

"...You...if you weren't a girl I would've already punched you many times over." He scowled as she blinked back in confusion.

Why? Why did he always make such an expression around her? As if he was disappointed, over and over again?

She merely admitted he was right. It was exactly what he wanted to hear wasn't it?

He was right.

They were right.

Akakibana Kazuki. Tomie Yuu. Kuroko Tetsuya. Akashi Seijuro. The reporter. Everyone who spoke of her was right. She was that easy to see through. She was just admitting that.

Like he wanted.

Like they wanted.

So...why?

"Why?! Wasn't this exactly what you wanted to hear?" She cried out. "You've always been calling me weak, always been telling me I'm irritating! I'm just admitting that because you're right! I can't do anything right, even with Shogi, even with Akashi-kun, from the start I've always been making mistakes over and over again!" She screamed out, unleashing all the pent-up frustrations she had within her, as she immediately slapped his arm away as he stepped back, blinking in surprise.

This...was unprecedented. The girl he hadn't seen in a year for suddenly changed. Before, she would've said the same thing, the same words of self-loathing but...she would've never fought back. The girl _never _did anything but cry before.

What happened?

Perhaps being forced and back into a corner of embarrassment by Akashi Seijuro and his band of crazies seemed to have held positive side-effects instead.

Yet...Kazuki was not idiotic enough to not catch her subtle craftiness, she was dodging the question.

"Then what about your supposed boyfriend? Yuu told me," he began, the girl crinkling her nose once noticing how he referred to her by first name. "isn't he _that_ Akashi Seijuro, the one who basically breezily beat you at the Shogi tournament?"

She flinched, eyes narrowing to a distasteful scowl, ruining the well-mannered image almost everyone had of her. But this was a war and she was not going to lose again to the likes of this guy.

"Hah? Are you a stalker? That was a small tournament and...for your information, I've already gone through that with someone else before. I won't dislike a person just because I lost to them. What kind of person does that?" She retorted, layering her words with as much disapproval she could manage.

Like Midorima.

Yes, she had to be a Midorima. Prepare the scoffs and snide remarks.

The red-head whistled, honestly astounded by how much she had changed in merely a year...even though, she was running away the last time he saw her.

He frowned, not quite sure what to make of this before he finally heaved a sigh. "Ahh, is that so? Then that's good...but are you going to continue to date him?"

"I don't recall you ever having a say in my private life."

"I do. When it concerns Auntie."

She immediately froze. "Y-you, d-did you tell m-mother?" She shakily asked, eyes now lined with horror.

Yet, strangely enough, Kazuki wasn't enjoying such dominance. He only frowned. "Of course not. Auntie may attempt to kill you and I wouldn't mind but, that wouldn't change a thing. She'd still be suffering."

"You _still_ can't seem to differientiate the difference between your mother and _mine_ it seems." She scoffed in full-Midorima mode as ever so slightly the male twitched his brow. "But, even so, Mother is doing just fine. I'm helping her too. Why else do you think I kept on participating in tournaments with _prize money?"_

He quirked his brow. "Then why are you here today, instead of back home like you should've been after the tournament yesterday?"

"...because Tomie-san wanted me to meet _you?_"

"And of course you could've just _declined?"_

She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "...Are you assuming that I'm turning into a wild child who's going to party all-day long because I suddenly have a boyfriend?"

He widened his eyes, before a chuckle escaped his lips. "What? You weren't? There are many things you should be doing with your time, much more things you _have _to do."

"I am doing them. And there are many things you should be doing instead of becoming a pedophile dating a middle schooler."

He blinked, seriously laughing in disbelief. "Really...who the heck are you?" He muttered to himself as she raised a brow.

This was strange. He was _laughing_? Did Midorima tactics prove to be backfiring instead?

But...this was the first time he was actually laughing in front of her that it couldn't be counted as exactly a failure...but seriously, _he _was laughing, happily doing so?

What in the world happened to that terrible bully she knew since young? The one that would play pranks of her with the neighborhood kids, hide her shoes, and all those things.

_What?_

But...this was good. This was very good. She could use this as her chance...

"But where is Tomie-san? It's already past time to meet." She reminded, displaying her phone.

"Huh? Oh. I told Yuu that I contacted both you and her that I'd be coming later so in actuality, we're an hour early. I just needed you to act civil unlike that ridiculous display you showed me moments ago." He stated, reminding her of how hostile she was minutes ago.

That was true yet, it was also expected of him. For some reason, he was kind to everyone but her.

She frowned. "...You know, I had the notion of something _really_ ridiculous when I first saw you here today, that you probably told Tomie-san to get close to me in order to gather information. Is this actually true?" She questioned before the teen blinked and immediately guffawed.

"Hah?! Seriously?!" He laughed, tears threatening to pour out. "Do you think I seriously don't have a life at all?!"

"Yes."

He laughed. "I never said a thing, although I did ask a bit about exactly what you were doing away from Auntie later on. Besides, if I could help it, I'd never want Yuu to get close to someone like you."

"Ha. ha. That's wonderful...but actually it truly is because otherwise, I think I would've called her a traitor, slapped her, and left." She responded with dead serious eyes.

He smirked. "Well I'm glad you still despise me as much as I dislike you."

"And that's exactly why I'm going to go now. Even if it's for Tomie-san, I don't think I'll be able to last any longer around you so excuse me." She flatly stated, turning on her heels to leave.

"That's fine, I never expected you to stay," the bespectacled red-head sighed. "But, that's why I'm going to relay a message from her to you."

She turned, frowning.

He smirked. "After all this time, she still wants you to break up with him."

"What? This is the first time I've heard of this."

"But she was quite disapproving of your relationship."

"...And? Why?"

"Because you don't like him and he doesn't like you." He stated, as if he and Tomie knew something she didn't, almost like a side of Akashi she didn't...even when both of them should've known NOTHING about him.

"Hah? That isn't for someone else to decide!"

He narrowed his eyes. "Then...exactly what is love? Why do you like him and for what reason does he even like you?"

She froze, biting down her lip. THAT WAS THE TABOO THAT SHOULD'VE NEVER BEEN ASKED.

God knows why Akashi even accepted. God knows why he even _kissed_ her. As deliberately as possible!

"A-as if it concerns you!" She huffed, immediately striding off, praying that he wasn't going to come after her and press on.

Luckily, he didn't and soon she found herself alone on the bullet train, heading back home.

The male only stared at her passing back, a smile of intrigue splayed on his lips...until they promptly fell flat.

...Wasn't he tricked like this once before?

Back in the train, Akakibana was stiff as a board, face still morphed into that permanent Midorima scowl before finally, it relaxed...and the girl started shaking.

For the first time in her life, Akakibana Inori managed to tell many lies...even in the face of one of the people she found the most terrifying.

...She was grateful to Akashi. If it wasn't for managing to somewhat stand her ground against him, she wouldn't be able to have done any of that.

They were wrong. There was no way she could hate Akashi. He was everything she needed, her escape...from this stupid reality.

How could this not be love?

"Heh."

[=]

**Dissociative disorders** (DD) are conditions that disrupt memory, awareness, identity or perception. People with such disorders imploy dissociation, where one "tunes" out of reality, a defense mechanism, pathologically and involuntarily. Dissociative disorders are believed to be caused by psychological trauma or stress.

Kuroko Tetsuya blinked. Although as a phantom sixth man, his job was to observe others and employ misdirection to "disappear", he never expected himself to find interest in psychology itself. It was a combination of both psychoanalysis and the personalities found within the mystery novels he enjoyed.

He promptly closed his book, glancing up to find himself back in his uniform, ready to return to school as the fall semester began.

However, the sky was still overcast with sunny weather. Only the leaves showed signs of autumn as very slowly, they began to wilt and fall.

Kuroko decided to finish the rest of the article after class. Apparently it was supposed to be quite long article and he wanted to take time to thoroughly indulge in it.

However, never would he have thought that the data presented in books, would, like they were supposed to, apply to real people.

"Ah, Kuroko-kun~" A peppy voice greeted once he turned corner, meeting hazelnut eyes beaming with joy.

"...Tomie-san. It's been a while," he blankly greeted. Unfortunately he was at point-blank range, no wonder she noticed him.

"Yup, it's been such a long time Kuroko-kun! Ah, I heard from Nori-chan that you guys placed 1st in nationals this summer! Congrats!" She beamed.

He bowed. "Ah, thank you very much."

"You should be proud! But actually, on the topic of Nori-chan," she began as he frowned. Clearly, they weren't on said topic. "Could I ask you something about her?"

"Yes."

"What do you think of her?"

"Eh?"

"Like, as in her personality."

"...Hah. Well, she is a good person." he replied generically.

She wrinkled her nose. "No, not just that! I mean, like, qualities and quirks..."

"...Hah. Um, Akakibana-san is a bit strange and...she gives up a bit easily but, I think it's good that in the end, she'll still persevere...is that good enough?"

Tomie sweatdropped. "Kuroko-kun, I meant as a _girl_. Does she have anything appealing to her _as a GIRL?_"

"...Must I really answer that?"

"YES."

He blankly blinked back at her, not a word escaping his lips but his hidden message was clear: _why?_

She pouted. "BECAUSE. I don't think she should date Akashi Seijuro!" She cried.

"Akashi-kun?" He raised a brow.

"And he's your captain. Plus, on top of that, you're his ninja! Therefore, you guys must somewhat share the same tastes so tell me, why would he like Nori-chan?!" She revealed, now grabbing harshly at both his collar as he suddenly recalled she was a super-star athlete in his school.

"...Are you worried that Akashi-kun might be using her for his personal gains?"

She frantically nodded. "It's too weird no matter how you think of it! Particularly when he never even flat out said he liked her!"

Kuroko blinked. He wanted to say something in the red-head's defense and, he most likely could have but...he realized there was not much he could actually say.

Who knows? If it was Akashi Seijuro, he might have _actually_ had a reason to other than love. In fact, the notion of him _being _in love was even questionable to Kuroko despite him silently accepting it from afar.

After all, Akashi Seijuro was sensible enough to not cause any actual harm but...the question did intrigue him, particularly with how questionable Akakibana's own interests were.

Perhaps it was good to gain a bit of information from the other side. "...Did something happen Tomie-san?"

She flinched, caught in the act.

"Well...you see, Nori-chan has been..._sparkling."_

"Eh?"

* * *

**If you can, please drop a review as from here on, I will be carefully observing possible interpretations (but I won't say anything unfortunately) so I don't take a terribly wrong turn.  
****I write mysteries like in the case of "The Camera that Makes you Cry" but it's the first time I've written something as complicated as this XP**

**I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to write an OC fic to challenge myself. REALLY challenge myself.**

**Therefore, I'd be really grateful if you're willing to help me out :D**

**Thank you so much for reading!**

**Infinite Skye :)**


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